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A Butterfly For Peter


A Butterfly For Peter
Photo Information
Copyright: Eduard Baak (snowfalken) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 473 W: 26 N: 525] (1780)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-07-21
Categories: Insects
Camera: Canon EOS 30 D, Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L USM
Exposure: f/7.1, 1/320 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Dedications at TrekNature Part Two, Beautiful Butterflies Part Two, Butterflies on Lantana Flowers [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-08-06 5:57
Viewed: 945
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 44
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
A Butterfly For Peter

I dedicate this beautiful composition to Peter Stoeckl, one of the greatest TN members, whose love for butterflies is only surpassed by the passion and determination with which he photographs them. His dedication to these colorful creatures emerges from every picture he posts and every word he writes in his notes. This is a big "Thank You" for every contribution he had on this site and also a way to express my gratitude for everything I, directly or indirectly, learned from him and from the very thorough critiques he writes.

Photo Location:

I took this picture near Lakones, a small village located in the mountains that surround Paleokastritsa (a beautiful resort on the Kerkyra island in Greece).
The weather was fine, clear sky, almost no wind and the atmosphere was kind of hazy, sometimes with invisible horizon line. The temperature was about 42 degr. Celsius.


Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius)

The Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius) is a butterfly found in gardens, fields and open woodlands. It is found in places with sloe thickets and particularly orchards. It is also called Sail Swallowtail or Pear-tree Swallowtail.

Distribution

It is widespread throughout Europe with the exception of the northern parts. Its range extends northwards to Saxony and central Poland and eastwards across Asia Minor and Transcaucasia as far as the Arabian peninsula, India, and western China. A few specimens of the Scarce Swallowtail have been reported from central Sweden and the UK but they were probably only strays and not migrants. The scarcity of UK migrants is responsible for the English common name. In the Alps it can be found up to altitudes of 1600 m.

Status

In some years the Scarce Swallowtail is quite abundant. The Scarce Swallowtail is getting rarer as the blackthorn bushes are being cleared; and it is now protected in some central European countries. It is protected by law in Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg and Poland. It is considered Rare-Endangered and protected in some provinces of Austria and of status Indeterminate throughout Europe.

Life cycle

The food plant includes hawthorn bushes. The caterpillars spin little pads on leaves and grip them firmly. The newly hatched caterpillar is dark in color with two smaller and two bigger greenish patches on the dorsal side, later they are greenish with yellowish dorsal and side stripes. The summer chrysalids are green as a rule, the hibernating ones are brown. A number of hibernating chrysalids fall prey to various enemies.

Source: WIKIPEDIA

EXIF:

ISOSpeedRatings - 100
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/320 seconds
ApertureValue - F 7.10
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
Flash - Not fired, compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 200 mm
ExposureMode - Manual
White Balance - Auto
SceneCaptureType - Standard

PP in CS2:

- RAW to TIF to JPG;
- selective sharpened with high pass filter;
- saturated;
- cropped, resized, added frame and signature;
fartash, aido, ellis49, JORAPAVI, cicindela, Proframe, Ken52, CatherineD, peter_stoeckl, claudine has marked this note useful
Only registered TrekNature members may rate photo notes.
Add Critique [Critiquing Guidelines] 
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Proframe: Thank you very much!snowfalken 2 08-08 03:31
To Ken52: Thank you my friend!snowfalken 1 08-07 03:57
To dew77: Thank you very much!snowfalken 1 08-07 03:35
To cicindela: Thank you my friend!snowfalken 1 08-06 11:47
To jignasi: Thanks!snowfalken 1 08-06 11:40
To mecamich: Thank you!snowfalken 1 08-06 11:38
To JORAPAVI: Thank you!snowfalken 1 08-06 11:37
To rodosranger: Thanks!snowfalken 1 08-06 11:36
To ellis49: Thank you!snowfalken 1 08-06 11:31
To aido: Thank you for your critique!snowfalken 2 08-06 08:22
To fartash: Thank you very much!snowfalken 1 08-06 07:16
To ewiczek: Thank you!snowfalken 1 08-06 07:16
To Juyona: Thank you very much!snowfalken 1 08-06 07:14
To vanderschelden: Thank you for your critique!snowfalken 1 08-06 07:12
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Critiques [Translate]

excelent macro

Hola Edueard,
excepcional captura,
detalles y bello pov,
buenos colores y bella composición...
saludos

Hello Eduard,
Beautiful image.
Well composed.
Why do you use the TIF and then JPEG. Why not RAW>JPEG?
TFS
Annick

Hello Eduard
Excellent shot of this Swallowtail,
Great focusing,lighting and sharpness,
Perfect composition ,Welldone.

Regards
Fartash

Preciosos colores sobre un fondo muy acertado.
La composición es excelente y el conjunto impactante.
Saludos Eduard.

  • Great 
  • aido Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1097 W: 168 N: 1221] (4048)
  • [2007-08-06 7:28]
  • [+]

Hey Eddie,
Long time no speak, good to see a post from you. I think this is a very artistic image, the composition is superb. I love the way you've completely isolated the Butterfly and plant against a distant background, this really highlights the subject well. Great light and colours, exposure but for me this one is all about the composition. A great image and a great dedication, I agree Peter is one of the outstanding members of this community, I'm sure he will be very pleased to have this beauty dedicated to him.

In response to Annick's question, I do the same as you (raw - TIFF - JPEG). I keep the raw as master and TIFF as a working master copy, JPEG for web posts.
Keep well mf,
Adrian

Hi Eddie,
a beautiful picture for a dedication, I know Peter will be pleased.
Well composed with nice colours, fine details and good DOF.
The insect standout well against the clean BG.
Well done.

Hello Eduard,belle composition et trčs joli ce porte queue.Bravo

Mich

Very nice composition, works well with the neutral background too.

Matt

Hola Eduard,
Una imagen de gran belleza en su composición, gran nitidez y detalle, con una luz y fondo muy agradables, saludos
José Ramón

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5171 W: 297 N: 4050] (13069)
  • [2007-08-06 13:30]
  • [+]

Hello Eduard,
Wonderful capture.POV,colors,BG,lightings and details are excellent.
TFS..:-)

  • Great 
  • Ken52 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 660 W: 98 N: 1249] (4153)
  • [2007-08-06 14:42]
  • [+]

Hello Eddie,

This wonderful photo is very pleasing to the eye.

Focus: I think you did an excellent job with the focus. The flowers are very sharp and you have nice edges on the butterfly with very good sharpness on body and legs. The focus doesn't appear to be as sharp on the wings due to their position falling out of the sharpest area of focus. In hindsight, I am wondering if an aperture value of f10 or f11 would have brought them into area of sharper focus while still allowing adequate shutter speed and adequate blurring of background. Then again, it could be that there was some movement of wings wihich is very common for nectaring swallowtails.

Exposure: The exposure is outstanding throughout frame with the possible exception of the back wing which may have been reflecting the bright sun. I really like the exposure on the flowers. You captured the bright and beautiful colors perfectly.

Colors: The background is so pleasant with the soft colors which contrast so well with the well saturated colors of the lantana. The colors of the butterfly look very natural. I think you did as good a job as possible to bump up the saturation to bring out a good shade of yellow and a beautiful blue.

Contrast: The contrast seems to be well adjusted to make the subjects stand out well from background. I am still learning how to make sight adjustments in contrast to bring out more details.

Composition: This is the most outstanding part of the photo. It is such a beautiful and balanced composition with the lantana filling the upper right 1/3 of frame and the butterfly filling the lower left 1/3. Perfect amound of empty space around subjects to give a nice unconfined feeling yet allow good detail on subjects. Very nice frame also.

In summary, the artistic appeal of this photo is amazing and easily overcomes the slight problem with butterfly wing. I enjoyed it very much.

Note: This is too difficult Eddie. (smile) I am trying to be as honest as I can and really analyze your photo, but I am not confident that I have the experience to know if I am accurate in all I say. I just try to give you my opinion based on my limited experience in post processing.

Best Regards,
Ken

hi eduard,
this is a well deserved dedication, well composed shot with fine pov, liked the colours bg and the framing very much,
well done,
tfs & regards
pankaj

Hello my Friend!
My first reaction for this photo was: WOW, what a great presentation. And you have some details why :)
1. Lovely and delicate composition, with perfectly exposed main object - butterfly.
2. Very good saturation (but colours are not agressive but delicate and warm)
3. Interesting object (especially for someone from Poland where this species is rather rare).
4. Interesting POV - I like this profile, not only because of its natural beauty but also because of the very nice details.
5. Note - very informative and detailed.
6. BG - simply great.
At last but not least this is a great dedication to Peter. I agree with you - he is one of the best butterfly specialist among TN members and also a great fan of these insects.
Best greetings,
Radomir

Hi Eduard,
What a great gift for Peter this most wonderful and perfect composition of the Swallowtail is.
Clarity, contrast, colors, color contrast and soft BG color tones are most wonderful and I just love the frame you did place around the image.
Excellent work and note. My compliments.
Thanks for sharing.
Best regards,
Harry

P/S out of :) will be back tomorrow.

Hello Eduard, wich marvellous pic, impeccable composition, very nice colors, good backronund, very good shot
many thanks for shared,
Pat

Perfect shot, excellent composition, colours, sharpness. Amazing.
Regards
Agata

Dear Eddie,

thank you for this most beautiful picture! It is so much of an honour to me to read your kind words and the dedication.

Your picture is very artistic, presenting the Scarce Swallowtail seen from a very difficult but excellently managed and highly awarding side view that shows the transparency of wings, their exquisite shapes und the conspicuous eyespot in a masterly, delightful way. Most elegantly composed in a minimalistic way, showing perfect details in front of a perfectly smooth distant background, and a wide spectre of very subtle colours.

Your highly informative, well written notes are of high end quality just as your picture. My congratulations!

Thank you!
My best regards,
Peter

I see that you posted many beautiful pictures that I missed so far. This is another superb shot of a beautiful specie and nice dedication to the "master of butterflies", Peter :) Colors, details, DOF, exposure and composition are just perfect! This is a high quality post from you, congratulations!
Claudine

Hello Eduard
Excellent shot. Perfect colours and sharpness. Picture is very well composed - thanks

Chris

Hi great shot
very nice colours and great focus
the mode is looking very nice
Tfs Toba

Amazing shot - very well done indeed.

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