Most Popular Photos : All Years : Position 11

Judges Comment

Congratulations for this beautiful photo, the composition is very well done, the sharpness is very good on both butterflies, for me it's all good!

Photographers Comment

Many thanks! This photo was taken with a CanonEOS Mark iv with a 180mm Canon Macro. The focal plane was very flat which allowed me to use a fairly open aperture and still hold the butterflies in focus but let the background become very soft. The backlight was wonderful, and I used a fill in flash set a minus 1. This photo was taken at Rancho Naturalista in Costa Rica last year.

Judges Comment

A beautiful, sharp macro shot with fabulous detail and composition. I love the promise of the unrolling fern and the symmetrical strength formed by the two butterflies which become just one large imaginary butterfly. Beautiful use of light and contrast, the exposure is spot on. It took a very brave shot to beat this.

Photographers Comment

I have always loved this photo myself. There was nice natural backlight; I used a fill flash set at minus 1.5 at a slight side angle. John Hendrickson