Take Many, Many Pictures

Below is a series of pictures I took of a swallowtail butterfly feeding among the scabiosa. I took picture after picture, most of which were deleted. These ones are the better photographs, although you can see problems in each of them. I finally found one that, when properly cropped, had the balance and composition I was looking for.

The picture above isn't bad, especially when the butterfly has wings wide open and an illuminating back light through the wings. The green foliage, blue scabiosa and white geranium is a nice backdrop to the yellow and black. But I don't like the angle of the butterfly on the flower, so I will keep taking pictures.

Here the angle is tilted enough that you can't see the full butterfly effect.

The balance is good, but the wings are not completely visible.

You can hardly even see the swallowtail colors. Often a side view of a butterfly is enough, but not in this case.

This is more like it. Good balance, colors pop, and the butterfly's wings are wide open and visible.

Here is the same picture, cropped for balance and composition. The focal point is the butterfly, even though it is not centered. The overall effect is of a candid garden shot that includes flowers, foliage, and swallowtail.