Monthly #38 - Wings Competition

Good Morning all!
Here we go then…..



Wings, by Daroni.
First to post & the first of several insects’ wings shots.
Very good bg. & very sharp in the head / eyes area.
However, this is let down by that intrusive foreground twiggery & rather too shallow dof
I feel. Because the dragonfly was (probably) quite still, you could have chosen a longer shutter speed, enabling a smaller aperture, with the resultant greater depth of field needed.


Butterfly on Buddleia by Perspicador.
Lovely colours & good composition.
I think the levels need attention, the butterfly looks a little washed-out….
Unlike the buddleia….? Don’t understand why this should be.


Bumblee Bee Wings by softail21
Good idea but I’m afraid the focus lets this image down.
By the look of the iso used, this was not the best light in which to shoot such a quick, small creature!
Shutter speed’s about right to stop any movement, but f8 with 300mm focal length, that close, I think was pushing it.
You made it hard for yourself, wait for some better light.
Summer, perhaps!


Bee “doing ma thang” by Marie.
Lovely, bright shot with the whites & yellows glowing away against a good oof green background.
The bee & its wings, however really are a little too small within the image to have much impact in this “Wings” competition, I’m afraid.
Sorry.



In memoriam by David Hamilton.
Good imaginative shot of Wings!
Sharp where it needs to be.
Although the bokeh is nice, I think the tone of the wings & the trees are a bit too close, which deprives this image of some of its impact.
(Landscape on my p.c., ignored for judging.)



Stormbringer by conexus.
Now you’re talking!!!
Wonderful picture the building bathed in glorious, pre-storm sunshine, enhanced by some HDR activity(?).This would be spot-on for the comp., the castle with its two “wings” but with the storm bringing bird in the clouds, well!
How long did you have to wait for that?!



hanging arount by wendy.
Good focus on this dragonfly, with its beautiful body colours
& sparkling wings.
It would go & settle just in front of that bright twiggy stump, wouldn’t it?!!
The wings, for this comp. could have been more prominent, I think.



Composition with dragonfly by aGinger.
That is a very good shot of a male broad bodied chaser, one of the few dragonflies I recognise to identify….
The colours are superb, I love the greens with the blue on the body.
But, I have to agree, “Pity for that second leaf.”
It’s a shame, but it’s still a nice image.
How are your P.P. skills…….?



Mosquito by john riley.
I agree about the form of this aircraft, it does look a lovely shape.
An interesting shot here of work in progress on a machine which must be about seventy years old by now.
Notwithstanding the scene not usually available to view, for a Wings comp., does it really do it…..?
Yes, of course, there are wings but I would have liked to see more of their shape & form.
Technically perfect, of course,



Cloud exit by gwb67.
I don’t know much about aircraft but I know what I like.
And I certainly like this shot.
Clever to have it coming out of the misty cloud, captured at just the right moment.
The white nose, contrasting with the silver grey body coming out from the grey cloud & shining against the blue sky is very, very good.



100th Anniversary WW1 commemorative Raf hawk by Rob2402.
Get a look at the Wings on that!
Super image, sharp, well exposed, full of fantastic detail.
All at, what, 400mph?
Up a Welsh hillside?
Wonderful shot.



Common Ole Crane Fly by nicesparky.
Back down to earth, & a little more sedate, this is a lovely shot of our old friend, the crane fly.
Looking closely, is there an influence on the sharpness here by either the 2sec. Exposure time or, & I think this to be more likely, the use of f32?
I think diffraction has raised its ugly head & softened the image.
I can see the need for great dof here and I think that’s been achieved, but then f32 has taken it away again.
A good case here can be made for focus-stacking.
Nice wings, though….



Thistle with a large tortoiseshell by davidwozhere.
Super colours, great lighting, background nicely oof, very sharp thistles……
But.
The focus has missed on the wings, which is a pity, with their being such beautiful colours & pattern in this light.


Head to Head by ken2390.
Good idea for a Wings comp., for sure.
But you’ve not done your image justice, I don’t think.
The bird & the Vulcan are small in the frame, as they would be with 70mm. focal length, but why not crop? Shot at 200iso, there should be the possibility. Wasn’t there?
Could/should have been a winner.


Spreading the wings by jofford.
Wonderful bird, smashing shot.
Very sharp, with good lighting to make the subject stand out well against the background.
I’d love to see a mono version of this!


Beeswing by paulb531.
We’re here for the challenge, Paul & you’ve met this one very well!
This bee is in focus!
The sparkle on the wing is very good, as are the colours of the rest of the image.
Good old honeysuckle, at least it kept it still for 8333/500000 sec.!



Profile of a locust by Noelcmn.
A good shot of an interesting beastie!
Never mind the lack of a leg, it’s the wings we’re after!
Fine wings they are, too. Lovely camoflage patterns of browns & fawns, well rendered, if a tiny bit bright?


All A-Flutter! By Puffacake.
Great shot!
See, it doesn’t matter if the wings are blurred, as long as the eye’s focussed.
And how!
Smashing colours, fine composition.
Well done!


Obfuscation! by drofmit.
Tricky wings on this shot!
Poor chap(?) can’t know whether he’s coming or going!
Sharp, colours well rendered, esp. that little patch of chestnut under the head.
Or is it the tail?
Well captured, in both respects.



First: Conexus with Stormbringer.

Second: Rob2402 with 100th Anniversary WW1 commemorative Raf hawk

Third; Puffacake with All A-Flutter.

H.C.s to:
AGinger.

Gwb67.

Jofford.

Thanks to all who entered.
So sorry it’s not all good news but please don’t be upset, it’s only me & my own personal thoughts.
And I don’t know a lot!



Over to you, conexus!

Congrats to conexus, the other podia and HCs...

To clarify something for you coker...
the reason that Perspicador's butterfly wings look "washed out" is because they are...
butterfly scales fade over the lifetime of the insect...
and when this was taken, early in August, this would, most likely, have been one of the last of the first generation....
look at the ragged wings.... especially the right fore-wing which is missing a chunk....
and the abraded edge and missing scales on the left hind-wing....
this insect has been on the wing for many, many weeks.
That is why the bud looks right, it is right.... the exposure was spot on...
the old tortoiseshell is washed out, naturally.

And, to help you further with your identification skills...
the "Broad-bodied Chaser"...
is in fact a....
Black-tailed Skimmer [Orthetrum cancellatum]....
body is far too narrow and it doesn't have the extensive dark patches at the wing bases...
these two are common and all too often mistaken for one another....
strangely enough, this is another ageing insect....
the pale scallop marks down the side have gone...
and the black on the tail is fast disappearing....
turning it into another possible "mistaken" insect...
the Keeled Skimmer [O. coerulescens]....
but that has pale yellow windows [pterostigma] at the wingtips...
the other two are dark....
so, now you can identify three, often confumbled, wonderful, large dragons of the air!
Hope that helps...

And my moth only needs to take off to know which way it is going....
only the Hummingbird Hawkmoth and the other Bee-hawks can fly backwards properly!!

Congrats to Conexus, Rob2402, Puffacake, and the HC's AGinger, Gwb67, Jofford. Fantastic challenge, equally fantastic images, a hearty thanks to our competent judge, for detailed analysis and comments. Great stuff.

Well done Conexus, it was a somewhat surrel and fascinating image with a kind of Harry Potter undertone going on and most definately a worthy winner, also the Runners Up and HC's entries were all super images.

It was a very diverse subject and very well judged with very interestimg and helpful observations from Coker that were much appreciated.

So Conexus onwards and upwards to the next monthly subject which is in your hands now so I look forward to another creative and interesting challenge for the coming month, congrats once again

Daronl



Quote this post

Especially thorough summary of what went before. My thanks for elucidating on washed-out butterfly wings! Believe me, no one gets close enough prior to shooting, to notice such things.

Thank you Coker for your comments on my entry. Truth is I am still learning at the ripe old age of ----. Well done to the winner and other placements.

Perspicador....
you wrote above...
"Believe me, no one gets close enough prior to shooting, to notice such things."
Quite often not... unless the damned things sit still long enough!!
But your shot was clear enough to show me what was going on with the poor thing!!
I found a Brown Hairstreak on some of our brambles yesterday...
It was missing most of the right forewing...
but still managed to move fast enough to make it a difficult capture...
and less than twenty minutes ago a wonderful Swallowtail graced a "bud" that I am growing on for someone else.... THE DAY AFTER THE COMPETITION CLOSES!! How typical is that!!
Managed a few shots tho'

Well done to Coker for a good competition and judging. I wouldn't have liked to split the first three - they were all excellent.

Regards

Paul

Thanks Coker. Good theme, well judged. Really happy with a HC

Congratulations to Conexus for your imaginative winning image, and to Rob2402 and the HC's AGinger, Gwb67 and Jofford.

Thanks very much Roger for your encouraging comments and my third placing. I am delighted as I entered the weekly and monthly competitions this week for the first time and I was lucky in both. Now for the next challenge.......

No sign of Conexus yet, so a bit of a delay for the new Monthly. Still trying to make contact, so I'll give it a day or two before setting a new competition anyway.

Hi Guys, Sorry for the delay and thanks for the comments.
I would like to make this months contest, the last rays of summer' August in the UK was a complete washout so let's see some evocative pictures that depict summer coming to and end -Thanks again