Female Eastern Lily Squatter.

[Dave Johnson]

Decided to crop right up close and personal with this one. Might not be to everyones tastes but I like the details :)

Shooting info:
Canon 60D, tripod, manual focus, cable release, 100mm F2.8 L macro lens, S/S 1/20 sec, ISO 250 @ F10.

C&C most welcome. Thanks for looking.



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[Ken Childs]

Dave,

I'm glad you decided to crop in tight...it definitely suits my tastes! When I first opened this up, I thought it looked a little bright but the more I look at it, the more I like it the way it is. I'm away from home looking at this on my laptop which isn't the best device for looking at images to critique but it looks like the wings could use another round of sharpening and the BG looks like it could use a round of NR. The only other change would be to crop a fair amount from the top. I did a browser crop and thought it looked more balanced. Overall this looks great! :S3:

[Jonathan Ashton]

A very attractive image and I like the presentation. There is a "but" coming!
The light may have been bright and the damselfly may be pastel colours but I do wonder what it would look like with a little less brightness, this would simultaneously enhance the contrast. I also wonder if the 60D is similar to the 7D and 50D in so far that the sensor seems to exaggerate the yellows?
The image may well indeed reflect the colours as they were in which case I stand corrected!

[Dave Johnson]

Thanks for looking Ken and Jonathan. I went back to the RAW and reworked the image and a slice off the top did look better. Unfortunately after cropping further noise increased which meant more NR and sharpening and IQ deteriorated pretty quickly :e3 Jonathan lowering brightness did improve the colours and mood but enhanced noise even further.. I think I'm at my limit as this was a considerable crop.

Jonathan, the 60D has the same sensor as the 7D and 50D (I think) so it's quite possible about the exaggerated yellows you mentioned. Certain white balance setting would enhance this yellowing I'm sure but I always shoot in the 'K' setting. After much playing with white balance settings in different light conditions I decided the only setting which showed the true colours which I see through the view finder is the 'K' setting at 5000 or neutral. This image was shot with WB at K 5000 - neutral. All other settings ie. sunny, shade etc just didn't show the true colouration and therefore I no longer use them. Thanks again for commenting,

D J.

[bhavya joshi]

I also Think that Curve down some Light will work here.. But I like the composition and Details.. TFS.

[Marina Scarr]

Very pleasing image with stunning colors and details. I agree on a crop from the top and a tad less brightness, but understand your predicament.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Dave. Very nice pose, sharpness, and background, and I like the diagonals of the damsel and perch. I would agree with taking a little off the top. You have some good suggestions above for tweaking this strong image - though it sounds like the large crop has somewhat limited your options. :S3: