Robert Coleman
August 2026 - Butterfly
Original
About the Image(s)
I decided to return to my project of capturing the flora and fauna here in the DC suburbs. I’ll credit Cindy’s submission in May for inspiration to take some shots of the butterflies in the front yard. This is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly, commonly called a yellow swallowtail. They are very common in our area. I’ve only seen one monarch butterfly this year; however, I’ll keep trying to get a shot of one. I’ll credit my wife for the gardening and flowers in our yard.
Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 100-400 at 135 mm. 1/640 sec, f/10, ISO 640. Image processed in Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop (distractions removed).
11 comments posted
Nice work Robert. Impressive that you got such good detail with such a heavy crop. You have a knack for doing that well. The composition is excellent as well. The lines of the flower parallel to the butterfly. Well done. Posted: 08/09/2026 20:46:40
Thank you. Got lucky when the wings lined up and the eyes stayed in focus. There's a new feature in camera raw that show where the autofocus locked on. It was on the thorax on this shot. The rest of the shots in the sequence weren't as good. Posted: 08/09/2026 22:18:16
Robert, very nice photo of the butterfly. All is in focus and you even caught the eye! I agree with Andres that the perspective adds interest in that the lines "all line up"! Very nice image. Posted: 08/09/2026 21:39:04
Thank you. As I told Andres, the rest of the shots in the sequence weren't as good. Posted: 08/09/2026 22:19:21
Robert, I appreciate the sharpness and detail of both the butterfly and flower in your image. The golds and greens are vivid and harmonious. The angle of the butterfly is not the typical horizontal position, which adds some tension to the scene for me (will the butterfly fall off). Nicely done, Robert. Posted: 08/10/2026 16:25:44
Thank you! Posted: 08/10/2026 16:34:14
Robert, The butterfly you have chosen to show us is quite beautiful ad so much in communion with the flower, that it does inspire us all to go out ad look for them. The only ones I've seen in our yard are the small yellow variety. I did hear that this was a better year for the monarchs and I hope that is true. Your butterfly has a wonderful angle ad fills the frame nicely. It also shows that you can crop in dramatically with the high pixel strength of our cameras and still get very sharp photos. Tell your wife that we appreciate her hard work on the garden to make it more butterfly friendly.. Posted: 08/16/2026 00:25:36
Thank you Joan. It's been a good year for the swallow tails. We've had a few monarchs. They flit around so quickly that I have not been able to get a good image of one. I'll pass on your compliments to my wife. Posted: 08/16/2026 00:59:38
Hi Robert,
The diagonal line of the swallowtail butterfly, that is parallel to the flower, works well. Both the butterfly and the flower are sharp and beautiful! Your post processing to blur the background and to avoid distraction is well done! Nice image! Posted: 08/16/2026 15:22:21
The diagonal line of the swallowtail butterfly, that is parallel to the flower, works well. Both the butterfly and the flower are sharp and beautiful! Your post processing to blur the background and to avoid distraction is well done! Nice image! Posted: 08/16/2026 15:22:21
Thank you! Posted: 08/16/2026 16:30:34
Robert,
You have a nice capture of the butterfly and flower with a very sharp image. I like your crop as you took out all of the unnecessary background which makes the butterfly the main focal point. Posted: 08/20/2026 00:10:36
You have a nice capture of the butterfly and flower with a very sharp image. I like your crop as you took out all of the unnecessary background which makes the butterfly the main focal point. Posted: 08/20/2026 00:10:36