Five Spotted Skimmer (I think)

[Jim Poor]

As you will learn, I am quite fond of my 600mm Macro lens ;)

I'm considering this image, which I had the privilege of acquiring last year, for part of my portfolio, so please don't hold back :D

<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="1" width="450"><tbody><tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Date/Time</td><td class="lid">14-Aug-2006 09:23:46</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Make</td><td class="lid">Nikon</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Model</td><td class="lid">NIKON D2X</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Flash Used</td><td class="lid">No</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Focal Length</td><td class="lid">600 mm</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Exposure Time</td><td class="lid">1/400 sec</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">Aperture</td><td class="lid">f/4</td></tr> <tr><td class="lid" nowrap="nowrap">ISO Equivalent</td><td class="lid">100</td></tr></tbody></table>

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Jim First of all love your macro lens It is my favorite !!!!!

You got a very good looking bg and Dfly position good and sharp The light was not helping you there seems to be contrast and the head is a bit dark These also look much better on a different perch The branch sort of overpowers the little guy

I see why you are leaving the room on the right (direction of eyes) but might be better to cut down a bit !!! These bugs are fun and addictive !!!!

[Ed Cordes]

I like the pose and the sharpness. The bright perch does distract a bit, but I also like the kind of 747 stance the DF is showing.

[Robert Amoruso]

On similar images i will select the perch and bring down its tone with a curves adjustment in PS.

[Steve Foss]

Sweet composition. My field guide to dragonflies (Dragonflies of the Northwoods by Kurt Mead) indicates this is a twelve-spotted skimmer.

I think the other criticisms are spot on and will only improve this very nice image. I add two things. The BG looks grainy to my eye, and the details in shadows and highlights are poor because of the strong light. If it were mine I'd carefully lasso the dragonfly and perch and run a gentle application of shadows/highlights to bring out more detail in the shadows and help out the hot spots on the wings. Then I'd select "inverse" and run noise reduction and a light gaussian blur on the BG. That will make it more buttery and less distracting.

[Jim Poor]

Thanks everyone. I'll go back and have another look at it to see what I can do on the suggestions.

Jim