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Jonathan Ashton
12-24-2012, 04:40 AM
Handheld Canon 50D Canon 180mm macro ISO 1600 - 0.3 1.2500 sec f9
I am not quite sure about the identity just yet but this was a common dragonfly, I photographed it near to some very smelly water and I was on a bank sliding gradually downwards so the tripod was not practicable. I wish I had got better view of the blue eye.
All comments welcome.


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Dave Johnson
12-25-2012, 12:03 AM
Jon, well done under the shooting conditions. Shame you couldn't have got a better angle on him but on a sloping bank with "smelly water" looming below you I fully understand :) A few suggestions if I may? Firstly I'd tone the perch down some as it's quite bright especially below the tail, and I'd consider removing the white fibrous material behind his tail as I find my eye being drawn towards it. Good luck IDing him. Cheers.

Steve Maxson
12-26-2012, 11:18 AM
Hi Jon. This is a very colorful one and the blue on its eye is quite striking! Nice IQ for ISO 1600. Dave makes some good suggestions above. You might also consider cropping a little off the left - maybe just in front of the fibrous strand Dave notes above. This is a fine image of an interesting critter and a couple tweaks will make it even better!

Jonathan Ashton
12-26-2012, 05:35 PM
Thanks for the suggestions Dave and Steve - I attach another image cropped to the "golden rule" guidelines. The blue part of the eye is on the golden third intersection.

Jerry van Dijk
12-28-2012, 04:12 PM
Hi Jon, RP is better compositionwise, but the IQ does not really allow for such a big crop. This looks like Crocothemis erythraea (Scarlet darter), but that would make this quite an expectional observation! This species is a rare vagrant from Southern Europe, although it is becoming more and more common in the northern regions due to climate change. Although this species can hardly be mistaken for another species, it might be good to get an extra check on the ID.

Jonathan Ashton
12-28-2012, 05:44 PM
Thanks Jerry, you may be quite correct, the image was taken in The Gambia.

Jerry van Dijk
12-29-2012, 04:47 PM
That explains a lot! But then my ID would be unsure, because I only checked against similar species in the UK or Netherlands. Africa is a completely different league! It does occur in Gambia though.

Jon Swanson
01-02-2013, 10:49 AM
Agreed on the angle but there are things we will not do for an image :) Lovely image!