Damselfly On Utricularia

[Norm Dulak]

Nikon D7000 w/Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 vr lens @ 340mm, hand held in skiff
ISO 800; f/11, 1/400 sec
PP: Topaz DeNoise; PS CS5 crop, levels & sharpen

This image captured from a tributary to the Amazon River in Peru shows a damselfly on Utricularia (aka bladderwort). I thought that the insect and the flower made a beautiful combination. But Utricularia is also a carnivorous plant, and lying beneath the surface of the water are sophisticated bladder traps that can capture small aquatic organisms. So this interesting plant presents both beauty and the beast.

Norm

[LindaHarden]

I think the colors work very well in this image. My thought is that it would have more impact if cropped closer and if the green OOF stem in the upper right was removed.

[Jonathan Ashton]

An interesting shot, I enjoyed the narrative. I assume you had to take the shot from this angle, otherwise I would suggest a little further round to the right would have been a little better, I am not sure wheer the point of focus was, the damsel does not appear to be quite in focus.

[Anita Bower]

I wasn't going to comment because I don't do insects, but changed my mind when I read that this was taken in Peru, the country of my birth and where I grew up! Yay! You might tone down the out of focus green stem in upper right area.

[Anita Bower]

Norm: I like the gorgeous and unusual flowers. The little clump they form is quite pleasing. I like how the blue of the damselfly stands out against the dark water and how well it contrasts with the yellow of the flowers. I also like the dark bg which highlights the flowers and damselfly. I think I'd crop it some from the top and right,and as I wrote above, clone out or tone down the green and yellow in the bg. I'm impressed that you could hand-hold and get this image. Actually, I'm impressed with all photos of insects. :-)

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Norm. The blue of the damselfly goes well with the bright yellow of the flowers and I like the added biological info! Bladderworts are common here too, but I expect it's a different species. You have good comments above to consider so I won't repeat. I might add that you could tone down the bright area left of the stems and near the bottom as that is drawing my eye. A couple tweaks will take this nice image up a notch or two. :S3:

[Norm Dulak]

Thanks everyone for the helpful suggestions!