Critique Into the light

[LCPete]

Hi am still messing around with the butterflies at the zoo!
hopefully in a few more weeks I will start seeing some wild subjects
It was a bright day so was able to backlight the butterfly with the sun shining through its wings has really lit up the green part of his wing
the second shot is the butterfly lit normally from the front to show the actual wing colour

I have also been trying to use fill flash (with the pop up on camera flash) without much success even with minus 2 flash exposure compensation the flash is still too bright
was going to try a diffuser but tried a little torch works really well gives just enough light
with both of these shots I used the torch to give a bit of fill light

 

[GardenersHelper]

Lovely subjects. The first one works well for me. I'm wondering if the second one looks slightly "faded/washed out". You might (or might not!) want to try using a slight S curve for example to perk up the colours and contrast just a little and see what you think.

 

[ChrisA]

Nice results and good thinking with the torch - agree with above maybe a slight vibrance / sat boost on the second to punch it.

I think this is where a speedlight comes into its own , by giving the ability to manually set the flash.

 

[GardenersHelper]

I think this is where a speedlight comes into its own , by giving the ability to manually set the flash.

Good point. And depending on exactly what combination of equipment you are using flash exposure compensation (FEC) may be another way of handling the flash level. With a Metz AF-2 on my Canon cameras I can get +/- 3 stops of FEC. With a (different) Metz AF-2 on my Panasonic cameras I can get +/- 5 stops of FEC. With the Panasonic gear the camera gives +/- 2 and the flash +/- 3 stops, and they are additive. With the Canon gear the flash setting over-rides the camera setting and so you don't get the additive effect.

Set manually, the Metz 58 AF-2 lets you set from full power to 1/128. With the Canon 430exii it is from full power to 1/64.

Other flash units will have different characteristics, so if you do get interested in getting an external flash then it may be a good idea to check out these details before choosing which flash to buy.

 

[LCPete]

Thanks very much Chris and Nick
yes you are right about the second shot I will have a go boosting it a bit in curves
I do have a flashgun a 430EX
I found the results that I was getting for butterflies too bright and just looked like a flash shot if you know what I mean
but will have another go and will start from a lower flash setting with diffuser and work from there