Widow Skimmer

[Diane Miller]

I've been stalking dragonflies at the same pond where I'm watching an osprey nest. Canon 7D2, 100-400 II + 1.4X III, at 476. I love having a 140 to 560 macro!

ISO 800, f/11, 1/1000 sec. Handheld, full frame. Normal minimal LR adjustments and into PS for some minor BG cloning and a layer of NR. I just noticed, she appears to be hanging in midair. I cloned out a very OOF piece of the vegetation that appeared to merge tangent to the lower right abdomen, but apparently a branch from that piece continued behind her and is what she was hanging onto. I'll go back and delete that clone layer, although it's hardly obvious it's part of the perch.

Need to get serious and work with a tripod for the best sharpness.

[Warren Spreng]

It's as if she was dipped in gold! Love the venation in the wings, very sharp. I thought she might be straddling the two stems!

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Diane. As I was reading your description and specs I was thinking - this dragonfly looks like it's floating in mid-air. :S3: (I guess you noticed it too.) Otherwise, this image looks good with every part of the dragonfly within your DOF. It's pretty clear that this zoom lens works quite well with the 1.4X attached!

[MiroslavMaric]

Hi Diane,

Like the details and frame. Ref to your focal length I'm impressed with your handhold technique. I agree with Steve, it looks like it's floating in the air. The harsh light made some highlights on the wings and I know it's hard to avoid for dragonflies. TFS.

Cheers,
Miro

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like it Diane excellent plane of focus and DOF lovely details and colour. The two as opposed to one OOF sticks provide balance, I agree it looks to be suspended on a sky hook but I think it is a very natural looking image.
Was it absolutely necessary to clone out the twig - would this convey the missing perch?

[Diane Miller]

Thanks everyone for the comments! Here it is with the cloning layer hidden. I forgot to mention that I'd also cloned out the part of the perch coming out of the top of the head.

I should try a polarizer for the light reflections -- they always look nicer when viewing the real thing than in the picture. That would probably tip the scales in favor of a tripod but it would often be difficult to get one into position, and especially without disturbing the dragonfly.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I understand why you cloned but from my perspective I think the second image is just fine.

[Jerry van Dijk]

HI Diane, what a lovely dragonfly! Putting those sticks back in solves the 'floating' problem for me. Doesn't seem to me you need a tripod. I find them cumbersome chasing these critters around a field. Re. the highlights on the wings: a slight adjustment of your angle on the dragonfly often solves much of the problem. You do need to watch your plane of focus when you do and you may have to adjust your aperture too for more DOF.

[Diane Miller]

Thanks for the comments, everyone! It's so rewarding to discover one of these in a good pose against a good BG. They are like little pieces of jewelry!