Bob Benson, FPSA, EPSA
April 2026 - Sharing the Same Flower
Original
About the Image(s)
Two years ago while at the PSA Festival in Arizona, we came across these bushes that were loaded with Monarchs while waiting to get inside a mission grounds. I did not expect to be photographing butterflies in the desert in September, so I did not really have the right lens with me. You can see from the original that I had to do a lot of cropping, In LR, i cropped, selected the subjects to add brightening, and then selected the opposite and darkened the background severely, and blurred it.. Finally the butterflies were not sharp, so I used Topaz in Photoshop to selectively sharpen them. Still the wingtips are a little soft but not too bad.
8 comments posted
Not too bad? I find it an understatement. I'm amazed how sharp the final photo looks despite the heavy cropping. The composition is excellent and the two butterflies produce a very balanced image. The background (after your post-processing) complements the main subject and is not distracting. I might, however, darken a little more the stem in the background growing diagonally from the right butterfly. Posted: 04/10/2026 13:37:38
Nice image. My only suggestion is to try to minimize the halos around the antenna (not sure what they are called). Just learned a LR technique to for example with a subject and sky. Select the subject make the adjustments. Then select the sky and make the opposite adjustments. Then select the sky and make the needed adjustments. Probably a little more involved than that, but since LR does the math of the adjustments rather than modifying the pixels, the 2nd adjustment removes any artifacts created by the first before the sum of the adjustments is applied to the image. Posted: 04/10/2026 13:52:40
I have not heard of this version. I have heard that selecting the sky, then subtracting the sky from the same selection in LR will get rid of the fuzzy selection that LR tends to create. Posted: 04/10/2026 14:34:09
Let me see if I can put my notes in a readable format.
T
Posted: 04/10/2026 16:55:32
T
Posted: 04/10/2026 16:55:32
I have not heard of this version. I have heard that selecting the sky, then subtracting the sky from the same selection in LR will get rid of the fuzzy selection that LR tends to create. Posted: 04/12/2026 15:06:42
Hi Bob! You really used well the unexpected opportunity, and all the processing gave a lovely image. I might also darken the stem a little, or maybe crop off a centimeter from the bottom - I think that this would not reduce the diagonal effect too much? Posted: 04/10/2026 21:10:11
We can't tell you didn't have the right equipment. You did great in capturing sharp images of the butterflies. I like the placement of the flower and butteflies. The one on the left is a little lighter and keeps your eye in the picture. Well done. Posted: 04/14/2026 23:17:53
Given that you were not equipped to take photos of insects, the image that you have got is remarkably good. With the pair feeding on the same plant, the composition is strong, different from the usual butterfly photos showing one butterfly feeding on one flower. My only suggestion is whether it looks better with some cropping from the bottom. Posted: 04/17/2026 15:29:59