Nothing says spring to me like the arrival of the first butterflies. However, I was a bit surprised to see a Monarch this early. It’s nectaring on a viburnum, one of the few plants blooming in my yard right now,
Posted for the weekly challenge. Standard critiquing, please.
Canon RF 100-500mm
Wonderful subject, both the butterfly and the flower, in perfect light with a perfect BG! But the horizontal frame doesn’t feel right, and the composition feels visually top-heavy. You have the IQ to crop a lot, and something like this works more for me – but that’s just my feeling and instinct. Would also work to take more off the bottom and have more on the sides.
Thanks @Diane_Miller. I cropped this about five different ways before deciding on this. I left it bottom heavy only because I wanted to include that little leaf node in there to give the photo a little more balance, but I guess that didn’t work. Maybe I just need to crop it nice and tight, and let it go at that.
Oh boy can I relate to that. Little things, like the buds you mention, snag me and only later do I find out that they’re not important to make the image work. That’s always done by a person who didn’t see this IRL, but is evaluating the final result. That’s the nice part about NPN. You could try flipping it and seeing if it gazing right would improve the flow since our brains work that way. The detail and light are worth taking the time with for sure. I’m struck by how pale the oranges are and the touch of olive in the top near wing. And the background is sublime.
Thanks @Kris_Smith. Yeah, I think due to the IQ (especially because I was shooting in 25mph wind gusts) and coloration of the image, it’s worth experimentation. I agree concerning the colors. When I first saw it, I wasn’t entirely sure it was a Monarch.
Yeah, good point by @Kris_Smith that another person will often see things the image maker didn’t. The little leaf nodes are an interesting feature but right at the edge of such a large and relatively empty frame is problematic, and they are so small and far away from the rest of the image.
It was worth trying and if there was more stem below them they might work with a vertical composition (with more room above the butterfly) but the distance from the subject would still be a problem, and the node is just not big enough to balance anything. You have the IQ and wonderful lighting, subject and perch here to justify a tighter portrait.
Oh, absolutely @Diane_Miller. There are few images I post where someone else doesn’t see something I didn’t see. (Does that sound right? That statement seemed awkward!) Yeah, even when I was cropping it I was wishing those nodes were higher on the stem. I knew the image was bottom heavy, but I wanted those little nodes in there so badly! 
Vertical comp looks perfect for this one. This monarch is old and probably flew up North from Mexico. It shows what a tough little insect this monarch is as it eluded death on its long flight. Well done…Jim
I really like this image and it definitely radiates the ‘Spring’ emotion, Terry! Diane’s crop is particularly nice with less dead space and it puts the butterfly a little more to the right of the frame which is good considering the direction it’s facing. Exposure, colors and detail are excellent. The only thing that didn’t quite work is that the depth of field was a little thin, leaving the butterfly’s head and the back buds a little blurred (particularly noticeable in the large version). A little higher ISO would have allowed you to tighten up the aperture and get the necessary DOF without sacrificing shutter speed. A great photo for the challenge though!
@terryb, I really like the concept of this image. It really captures the essence of “Early Spring.” The color and blurred background are very nice. The positioning of the buttefly on the flower is perfect. As @Gary_Minish pointed out, the DOF could be a little less shallow, so that the entire flower, stem, and butterfly are in focus. I tried using Topaz Sharpen AI on your upload and it just created annoying artifacts. However, I imagine with the wind howling and how quickly the butterflies are moving about, you had to work very fast. Also, I feel your pain on how to crop the image! For me, those buds at the bottom don’t work unless they are not cut off at the bottom. I don’t like all the negative space on the sides with a horizontal crop. So I tried a vertical, straightening out the stem.
