The Butterfly Whisperer

Very sweet image. Nicely done. David

Thanks David :-)

 

She spends a lot of her day trying to catch these little butterflies and she was very proud to show off this one that let her carry it around on a flower for awhile.

 

I shot this wide open because I wanted to isolate the butterfly from her face but I think there might be a little too much blur. Her left eye, in particular, has this weird ring around it that bothers me. I've tried to fix it but it never looks right. I may go back to the drawing board with this one.

 

What do you think? Is there too much blur or is it just me?

Amy, It's a beautiful image and making adjustments to the DOF is a matter of taste and desired effect. I think that an image with less blur on her face would look very nice, although I would have to see it to be sure. I don't know if you can order up any more butterflies, but if and when you can, then I would give it a try by shooting the same image at various F stops and selecting the one you like. Also consider having the flower and butterfly closer to her face (slightly in front of her) as she looks at it. This would make it easier to test at different F stops since there would be less distance between her face and the flower. Better yet would be for there to be some blurred dimension both in front and behind the flower (e.g., perhaps the flower could be between her part of her right arm and her face). I don't really see a problem with her left eye. I also particularly like the red in the flower with the pink dress, lips and blush, which adds nicely to the effect for me. David

Thanks David :-)

 

You're right, I think I need to do some experimenting so when the opportunity arises again I won't need to think about what f-stop will work best.

 

I really appreciate your help! :-)