Pontia butterfly (4:3 crop ratio added)

MacroLuv · Post by **MacroLuv** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 5:44 am

It belongs to Pontia genus I guess.

Model Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL
Date/time original 20.6.2007 19:13:39
Shutter speed value 1/200 s
Aperture value f/8
ISO speed ratings 200
Focal length 100 mm

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 7:36 am

That's the way I'd bet, though I'm not up on European butterflies. Nice picture!

--Rik

Bruce Williams · Post by **Bruce Williams** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:41 am

Nice clean, well focused image with beautiful colouring. I love the eye!

Bruce

Sven Bernert · Post by **Sven Bernert** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:21 am

Hehe, new cam!

I love clarity and definition of this shot but it has to much negative space on the left (disclaimer: to my taste). I’d crop it to square.

Just my two Euro centavos

Best,
Sven

MacroLuv · Post by **MacroLuv** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 1:52 pm

Thanks guys!

Hi Sven, nice to meet you again on our new forum. I remember your old forum excellent posts.
Yep, new camera, new tricks.

It is hard to pleased everyone. I usually got critics if the subject is in the middle of the frame.

I hardly decide to crop my images and mainly leave it full framed. Maybe I am green-eyed on my new 10Mp camera and don't want to waste any single pixel.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 9:33 pm

MacroLuv wrote:Maybe I am green-eyed on my new 10Mp camera and don't want to waste any single pixel.

Hhmm...

Over 10 million pixels in the camera, under 1/2 million in the web image. Tell me again how this "wasting" thing works?

--Rik

MacroLuv · Post by **MacroLuv** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 2:53 am

I knew it will make reaction!:D

rjlittlefield wrote:
MacroLuv wrote:Maybe I am green-eyed on my new 10Mp camera and don't want to waste any single pixel.
Hhmm... Over 10 million pixels in the camera, under 1/2 million in the web image. Tell me again how this "wasting" thing works?

--Rik

Well, it works in a way that part of my 10Mp picture out of cropped area will not be represented on final web image.

twebster · Post by **twebster** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:33 am

You have nailed the technicals in this image just about perfectly. Your DOF is aligned perfectly with the butterfly's wings. My only nit with this image is that for best composition the butterfly would have worked better if it were moved more left with the negative space in front of the butterfly instead of behind it. Otherwise, this is a sweet image.

MacroLuv · Post by **MacroLuv** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 1:52 pm

Thanks Tom!

Unfortunately, it was captured this way and there is no more space in front of the butterfly.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:48 pm

MacroLuv wrote:Well, it works in a way that part of my 10Mp picture out of cropped area will not be represented on final web image.

Sure -- I was teasing you, to make us both think.

What came to mind was that the purpose of the camera is to make an image. That's all. So if the final image is only 0.5 megapixels, it's a fair question how to get those from a 10 megapixel sensor. Resizing the whole frame is certainly one approach. Another is cropping, and resizing what's left.

When I think hard about it, I'll usually decide to leave a bit of extra frame, to give more freedom for cropping. That makes focusing a little harder, but maybe it's worth the tradeoff?

Unfortunately I don't think hard about this often enough -- and too often I end up wishing I had a little more frame surrounding the subject.

--Rik

MacroLuv · Post by **MacroLuv** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:52 am

Thanks Rik. I like that kind of teasing.

The problem with thinking is that we must simplify things. We just haven't enough brain power to calculate vast amount of interdependencies.
But because we can't it is also our advantage. Simplifying helps us solving problems. Not completely and with mistakes of course. So we must keep solving further.

Seems that advancements results in redefinitions of our concepts and modifications of our views about things.

Imagine if we could change magnification by adjusting sensor density (higher density plus crop - with acceptable results of course) as easy as we can by adjusting optics or even easier and stronger.

DaveW · Post by **DaveW** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 3:11 am

Very nice picture. I agree with Tom about cropping. It always looks best if there is more room the way the subject is facing than behind it, usually a two to one ratio, sometimes termed "looking room". That also ensures the subject is not stuck in the centre of the frame.

However, unlike conventional photography centred images can often look better in macrophotography, but seldom does more room behind a subject than in front improve an image I agree with Sven you could crop some off behind to even it up and re-size the image.

DaveW

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 4:20 am

MacroLuv wrote:Imagine if we could change magnification by adjusting sensor density (higher density plus crop - with acceptable results of course) as easy as we can by adjusting optics or even easier and stronger.

An interesting idea, perhaps more practical than one might think at first. I just got done working a project that did image acquisition using an IQeye700-series networked security camera. From a hardware standpoint, the camera is a 5 mega-pixel sensor connected to standard camera electronics and back-ended by an embedded computer running a Linux kernel. One of its modes of operation is what they call "resolution on demand", also called "DPTZ - Digital Pan Tilt Zoom", which essentially plucks out of a fixed 5 MP frame whatever part is of interest to each of possibly multiple viewers. They consider it a way of providing virtual pan/tilt/zoom from a camera that is mechanically fixed in place. Not the mode that we were using, but a clever approach, I think.

Search Google for plenoptic camera and you will find much interesting information about yet another approach. A good paper to start is Stanford's "Light Field Photography with a Hand-Held Plenoptic Camera".

--Rik

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 4:45 am

You can probably count the scales on the wings with this photo Nikola. very beautiful.

MacroLuv · Post by **MacroLuv** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 11:44 am

Thanks Dave, thanks Doug. You are very kind.

Rik, thanks for a bunch of interesting data, as usual.

OK folks! I thought the negative "empty" space behind the butterfly is well balanced with "empty" space in the right up corner.

You've convinced me. Here is 4:3 ratio crop from original 3:2.
Somewhere I read that true macro doesn't need crop.

Does it look better now?