Butterflies & Moths

[Axena]

Since there was a very constructive thread about a butterfly shot (which, IMHO feel that even if they are taken all the time, there is always room for more..... the one posted under "Overdone" was a really great shot... great colors), I would like to send this one in of a moth (not a popular subject due to lack of color). Thought this pose was interesting (and much harder to get than one would think). Comments? Suggestions? Always looking for new tips to shoot these little guys....

[Outdoorsman]

Well, gosh, since it was my post that inspired this one, I suppose it's obligatory that I respond. I do respect the difficulty involved in capturing frenetic bugs in an image. This is an excellent pic- the tiny hairs appear as you would expect. They show up really well on the slide of the image I posted but were lost completely by my crappy scanner. The detail in this shot is very good and the colors are nice and saturated and rich. The DOF is very good as well. The only things bothering me are 1) the smallness of the moth in the frame- I am squinting to get closer to it. And 2) the out-of-focus foreground leaves on the lower right. They are very distracting. I feel like they're in my way. I want to get some clippers and just trim them off.
Fix those two things, and you're "mission accomplished!" in my book. You've gotten a better, different position than I posted. Now I have to go back through the pics from that shoot and choose some different ones to scan... thanks for the kind words on my pic, and good luck out there!

[Axena]

Well, gosh, since it was my post that inspired this one, I suppose it's obligatory that I respond. I do respect the difficulty involved in capturing frenetic bugs in an image. This is an excellent pic- the tiny hairs appear as you would expect. They show up really well on the slide of the image I posted but were lost completely by my crappy scanner. The detail in this shot is very good and the colors are nice and saturated and rich. The DOF is very good as well. The only things bothering me are 1) the smallness of the moth in the frame- I am squinting to get closer to it. And 2) the out-of-focus foreground leaves on the lower right. They are very distracting. I feel like they're in my way. I want to get some clippers and just trim them off.
Fix those two things, and you're "mission accomplished!" in my book. You've gotten a better, different position than I posted. Now I have to go back through the pics from that shoot and choose some different ones to scan... thanks for the kind words on my pic, and good luck out there!

Thank you for the honest critiue... and yes, I agree about the foreground leaves. That is an easy crop to do. When the shot was taken, I was in a macro situation sitting no more than a foot away from the subject which was only about an inch in size.. and I had to wait, and wait, and wait..... then it finally landed, and soon took off again, but I got the shot. Seems like a lot of work for a "bug".... but it's always a challenge to "catch" them, so it's fun when you get any type of decent shot off, I think. Thanks again for your opinion and keep shooting yours... the're great!

[Jezz]

i think outdoors mans right, the moth needs to take up moer of the frame, and the out of focus foreground that is floating there needs to go as well, hard to look at in my opinion, crop it down a fair bit and i thik you'll have a very nice shot.

[Axena]

i think outdoors mans right, the moth needs to take up moer of the frame, and the out of focus foreground that is floating there needs to go as well, hard to look at in my opinion, crop it down a fair bit and i thik you'll have a very nice shot.

Thanks mate! I will rework the shot and see how it comes out. Would love to see some photos from down under.... do you have a site?

[SmartWombat]

Looks like a grizzled skipper (but can't be because you're in the US).
You've captured the characteristic wing pattern well (two flat, two at 45 degrees)

I'd have liked it from a little higher, so that the foreground isn't dominated by the edge of the leaf. I don't think you can successfully crop it because of the way the leaf is curled up at the edges.

But having said that, I know how hard it is to hunt insects !

When shooting 35mm, I used to use 135mm telephoto, extender tubes and two flashguns. One on the camera and one about 8" off the side on a handgrip L-bracket.
I set it up for about two feet focal distance, DoF was good at F16 and I relied on the flash to stop motion.
Digital P&S it's harder, but I've got a few...