Both NANPA and Nature Photographers have some incredible talent amongst their ranks. It's heartening to see an image of mine make the grade... even though it's been seen before...

NANPA Daily Sampler: North American Nature Photography Association - The Daily Sampler

Screen shot of the page:


Here is the full image - taken with the "soft" K10D JPEG:

EXIF
Photo Dimensions 3135 x 2250

Crop to show detail:


Photo Dimensions of crop 1568 x 1432

This was a hand held shot in bright daylight at F/11, 1/180 sec., ISO 100, 200mm, AV mode. Used diffused flash to fill the shadows on the subject. I was approximately 2-3 feet away and I couldn't get the entire subject in the shot. I did a little bit of cropping to better balance the background and the subject.

I have yet to see this sort of a wing position in a butterfly ever again! Perhaps 2-3 images I have had unusual wing positions, but the backgrounds were a much drabber brownish-gray of the soil before managing to get into the ideal spot and not scare this Yellow Swallowtail off...

Cheers,
Marc

[Marc Langille]

2-3 feet amazing to get so close ,my attempts usually scares them at 10 feet,good to see you have received recognition for outstanding work

cheers

Hi Nick, that is really kind of you for those comments!

positively fabulous, you must be the butterfly whisperer

Thanks so much Niki for looking and commenting... OK, can I blush now???

Regards,
Marc

[Marc Langille]

you always post such wonderful pictures, I can only imagine what would happen if you ended up with a "real" camera

I know, I know - I am simply a button pusher...

Thanks for the kind words!

Your an inspiration Marc

Taff, much appreciated and hope all is well.

Wow, Marc

This is in deed an honour to have your image in that site. Good one!

Thank you James - those comments are very kind!

[Marc Langille]

This is brilliant! Butterfly, with all his details and the color of the flower, beautiful shot!

Thank you Zeno!

Congrats! It is a very nice shot. Having tried to catch some butterflies lately with the DFA100, I have begun to apprechiate what it takes to compose a macro picture so well and to choose a good background as foundation for the bokeh. But when the dam critter finally sit still, it is so easy to forget everything about composition etc and just fire away! You are an inspiration!

Hello Douglas, thank you for the really kind words! The Yellow Swallowtail are the second toughest butterfly in terms of capturing a sharp image. Their activity/movement is so high and fast it's often outside the DOF or often blurred if you do not use a flash. (Black Swallowtails are the toughest on metering/exposing correctly under overcast condition without a flash.)

Your comments ring very true: this was one of the few I managed to capture with the green grass or vegetation in the background.

Sincerely,
Marc

[fadzil karim]

Awesome shot. Love your work very much

[cindy s]

Hey Marc,
Great photo. Congratulations once again on getting an image published.

[RonMexico]

Marc's shots either inspire me to want to take more pictures......or they make me want to throw away my equipment, because I never take shots like his.

Awesome work, dude.

[Marc Langille]

Awesome shot. Love your work very much

Fadzil, I sincerely appreciate the kind words!

Hey Marc,
Great photo. Congratulations once again on getting an image published.

Thank you Cindy!

[Marc Langille]

Marc's shots either inspire me to want to take more pictures......or they make me want to throw away my equipment, because I never take shots like his.

Awesome work, dude.

Well, if it's any consolation, I felt the same way when I started up again - it was very frustrating...

Stay the course Ron! This is how I approach everything - old school values (taken from my blog):

1. study, read and learn often - it's a lifelong journey
2. master your tools
3. critique your work well
4. practice, practice, practice
5. learn from your mistakes

It can be done if you apply yourself!

Regards,
Marc