So I took some advice yesterday and tried a new spot for some opportunities for some photos... (Thanks @DRwyoming ) It's been a while since I have seen a Monarch Butterfly so I couldn't pass this up.

gordon_g said:

So I took some advice yesterday and tied a new spot for some opportunities for some photos...

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Awesome and fantastic image Gordon. The composition with the soft yellow background complementing the Monarch and flower is fantastic. A keeper for sure.

@DRwyoming It was by far the best of the day, Thank you Dave!

Magnificent shot Gordon....superb composition

Thank you Sir!

Great shot indeed!

Love the colours in it Gordon.

Great colour, comp & complimentary BG here Gordon

Absolutely stunning Gordon. Perfect butterfly, perfect background

Lovely.

Wow... Thank you Folks... Appreciate it! @Jason @Gongster @marc @Kathy G @ssheipel

So I tried giving the butterfly and little more separation from the background, Which version is better? @Callie

I like the second better. There isn’t much difference between the 2 but the butterfly looks crisper in the second

Kathy G said:

I like the second better. There isn’t much difference between the 2 but the butterfly looks crisper in the second

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I did the same thing as the other photo brought the background down a little bit. I did brighten the butterfly just a touch, I didn't do that on the other one. Now I'll have to play a little bit and see where the limits are..

Sweet shot Gordon, prefer the 2nd image

Thank John! Me too!

Ya the second one looks much better...

Gordon
Sorry to come in late. Love these guys. #2 does it for me, the faded BG kicks butt. Long ago, I think, The New York School of photography had this sort of motto - the subject, only the subject and nothing but the subject. My words, but the idea stuck in my head.
Now, if I may, try to rotate the image so that it is diagonally across the frame with the wing point pointing to the left hand corner.
See what it does to impact and composition.
Again, just subjective

gordon_g said:

So I tried giving the butterfly and little more separation from the background, Which version is better? @Callie


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Great capture Gordon and I also think the 2nd image is "crisper" plus Callie's suggestion to rotate the image may give a more pleasing composition---I often do this with my butterfly pics as a lot of them hang upside down to feed, which can lead to "lopsided" subject placement. I am quite happy to use "editorial licence" to change the perspective !

I think I like this more! This is what you meant right Callie?

Godon, this is nice, and different, a much stronger POV. No, not what I meant. The rotation, not necessarily the thightnes of the crop shown.

Gordon; Magnificent photo! Callie...I agree with you, but I wouldn't have eliminated so much of the beautiful background. But...that's photo....everybody has at least one opinion!

Gordon.I also came in late .Great composition and details..I shoot butterflies and really do love them.I use Gaussian blur to get a really smooth background to pop the subject and blur the distracting background objects and that seems to make the subject look much better

@Callie. How did you rotate that like that and keep the background, did you layer it and blend it in??

Venkatesh VT said:

Gordon.I also came in late .Great composition and details..I shoot butterflies and really do love them.I use Gaussian blur to get a really smooth background to pop the subject and blur the distracting background objects and that seems to make the subject look much better

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The majority of this was (1st photo) pretty much straight out of the camera other then some sharping done. I agree as I have done that before as well... thanks for the suggestion!