Joe Parlett

Wow nice! Every time I try to shoot a butterfly they fly away on me. Great use of DOF. Great color uses as well. I might have tried to crop out the partial leafe on the lower right but other than that don't change a thing.

Rob Appleby

Dianne’s “Butterfly”:  Macro photography is something I’m keen to try but haven’t yet made the effort to attempt.  The subject looks sharp throughout which has to be difficult when getting in this close. The separation between butterfly, plant, flower and background is good, giving depth to the image.  I found the light falling on the plant leaves drawing my eye away from the butterfly and I’d recommend trying to tone those bright patches down if you can.  I’d also suggest cropping the extreme right hand side to remove the “alien” item in the lattice background but that’s a very minor niggle. Super technique.

Nancy Brown

Joe Zaia

Nice catch Dianne. “Butterfly” suggests to me a vertical format, but to help this image you can do some cropping on the right side, just up to the second bottom leaf. What hurts this picture is the attention the background divider demands. To eliminate this, you will have to do very careful selection of the butterfly, flower and leaves, then invert and use the Gaussian filter to further soften the background as needed and darken it as well. Then invert again and give the butterfly a shot with the Dodging tool to brighten it a bit. Then finally and before removing the selection, sharpen the butterfly a bit. The most important and time-consuming part of this is the careful selection.

Bob Yelle

Dianne, that butterfly is as sharp as a tack.  I have yet to photograph one without a slight blur on the insect’s edges.  Your composition is perfect.  I think the red flower and green leaves make the butterfly stand out.  I’m going to assume you used an aperture setting to blur the lattice work.  The only thing that bothered me a snit is that some of the leaves have blown-out spots.  Nice work.

Ben Egbert

Nice image of a butterfly. Good composition.  The main distraction is the fence and the brown item at the right.  Some highlights appear a bit hot.

Member Bio

Member Bio – Dianne Glick

St. Louis, MO  (winters in Phoenix, AZ)

(dianneg@me.com )

  I am a retired real estate salesperson (35 Years in the business!), who loves to travel and take photographs.  I have taken photos for years, but just in the past 4 years have I been able to concentrate on detail and to learn a minute part of Photoshop.  I use a Canon 5D, which is usually around my neck at all times during a trip.  I have been blessed with a wonderful, supportive husband who indulges my hobby.  I have three grown children and four grandchildren (more subject matter for photos!).  I grew up in the mountains of Idaho, went to college in Denver and have traveled extensively throughout my adult life. I am so looking forward to the interaction between fellow "addicts".