Souther hawker ovipositing

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hand held Canon 1DX Canon 100-400L & 25mm ext tube, Auto ISO 1250 1/320 sec f11
All C&C welcome.

[Steve Maxson]

You really made the most of your opportunities with this cooperative dragonfly, Jon! Yet another very cool behavioral image! I would wish that the wing wasn't crossing over the eye, but I love the reflection! I think this could stand a little CW rotation. Very nicely done!

[Norm Dulak]

Very nice Jon, I really like it! My only suggestion for you to consider would be to crop off a little from the right side. Just enough to eliminate the blurred part at the upper right corner. Then everything important would be sharp.

[Ron Conlon]

A really wonderful, rich scene. The low angle, the symmetries, the intense background and interesting environment really combine for a wonderful almost unearthly effect.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, this dragonfly presented me with many opportunities, I am pleased with the results but as your comments have indicated I never managed the ideal pose, at any one moment in time the wings were in the wrong place or the background wasn't ideal or the ovipositor was not visible etc. I am going to clear the pond of many plants this year hopefully not losing too many critters or eggs, I will try to find more homogeneous logs for next year too but finding a fairly dark yet rotten log isn't too easy.

[Ron Conlon]

...I am going to clear the pond of many plants this year hopefully not losing too many critters or eggs, I will try to find more homogeneous logs for next year too but finding a fairly dark yet rotten log isn't too easy.

Now that is investing serious thought, time and effort into a shot! Looking forward to next year's.

[OvidiuCavasdan]

I like this a lot! Good sharpnes on the dragonfly, very nice reflection and the water in foreground looks great in my opinion. Agree about cropping a bit from right side. Excellent!