Azure Damselfly

[nick clayton]

123851

Azure Damselfly
Snakeholme, Lincolnshire, UK. 02/06/11

Canon 7D
Canon 100mm f2.8 macro
1/4 @ f8
0 EV
Aperture priority
ISO 100
Pattern

levels
curves
saturation
selective colour
Nik Software color Efex Pro 4 - Tonal contrast - subject only
Nik Software Dfine 2.0 - background only
Photoshop USM - subject only

[Jonathan Ashton]

Nick you have a technically superb image, exposure focus and DOF are all excellent, colour rendition is also good.
I am not entirely sure about the crop size, for me it is a very busy image and I wonder if you might have better illustrated the doubtless beauty more effectively by either going in tighter or conversely showing the whole insect, it will be interesting to see what other people think.

[Bobo Madar]

It is indeed a beautiful image. I agree though with Johnathan, it may look even better with a lesser crop. The tight crop here appear to give more prominence to the drops then the main subject (assuming subject is the damsel).

[nick clayton]

Thanks for your replies Jonathan and Bobo. I think this crop is more or less how I took the photo, I think it may have been about my first attempt at early morning photography so I got excited about the dew drops and wanted to emphasize them, although maybe not the most aesthetic approach.

[Bobo Madar]

It is a great shot. I see it more as a "drops on damsel" rather than a "damsel with drops".

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Nick and welcome to the Macro forum! This is an outstanding image in many respects - the light, sharpness, and background are all first rate. The water droplets add a lot of interest and I like the diagonal of the stem. I'm wondering if you have just a bit of room on the left such that the wing edge doesn't touch the corner and the one water drop isn't clipped. (This is a minor comment on a very strong image.) I look forward to seeing more of your macro work!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Nick,
Welcome to the forum! I like the comp but do wonder if you had gone to f/11 the wings may have come more into focus......without sacrificing that wonderful BG. I think this is a great start for you in the forum!!!

[Marina Scarr]

This is a killer capture, Nick. I am so glad to see you posting here too. Love all those water drops and the amazing colors you have captured. The perch and BG are just right.

[John Chardine]

Love the sharpness here. Just outstanding. All the elements make for a very attractive image.

[nick clayton]

I just viewed this image thread for the first time in a while because I was fortunate enough to have macro and flora IOTW with this image, there were a lot of comments I hadn't previously seen, so thanks for that.