First Picture

[canonman]

Hi
This is my first picture of a butterfly.A large skipper (I think)
I know it;s not an uncommon one but hey we have to start somewhere, like to know what you think, I know that I will need more practice, any tips i will be happy to have.
Mick

[cherrybee]

I think it is an excellant first photo well done

[Mark43]

Originally Posted by cherrybee

I think it is an excellant first photo well done

I agree........maybe a little soft but i wouldn't be complaining it it was my first shot........well done.

[Ollie]

Hi Mick. That's a good first butterfly attempt. It doesn't matter how common an image is it's how it's presented that matters. I think you have done well with this one. As Mark says maybe a tad on the soft side but easily put right via software.
Roger

[canonman]

Hi
Thanks to you all, not used to taking pictures so close.
Most of the time I do birds, and you know what they are like always just out of range.
Know the picture is not perfect, still unsure how to go about improving it, suppose it will come with practice
Mick

[Ollie]

If you use photoshop elements Mick just apply a touch of unsharp mask to the butterfly itself. Draw round just the butterfly with the lassoo tool to select it and apply the USM, this helps to make the butterfly stand out from the background a little as well
Roger

[canonman]

Hi
Thanks for that Ollie I'll give it a try
Mick

[eeyore]

Excellent picture - the only thing I would add would be to try and blur the background out by reducing the dof, this is easy enough with a slr but virtually inpossible with a digi compact becvause these have inherently more dof per f stop anyway.

You can blur the background in photoshop but it takes a bit of practice to get right, draw round the insect with the select tool, then invert the selection and select gausian blur to apply to the selection. makes sure you feather the edge of the selection though as hard egeds will look very unnatural.