Blue tailed damsel flies

[Mike Hitchen]

7D with 100-400
ISO400 1/350 at f5.6

Full height but cropped sideways. Elements of the vegetation cleaned up

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[Jerry van Dijk]

Wonderful colors and I really like the BG with the wavy lines of the blurred grasses. I'm a bit distracted by the leaf sticking out of the twig the damselflies are perched on. I might crop from the top to just where the leaf and stem separate. That would get rid of the distracting leaf, but also add to the symmetry of the composition.

[Steve Maxson]

Great job of getting head-to-tail sharpness on both damselflies! I also like the diagonals of the stem and damselfly bodies plus the soft light and background. This is very nicely done!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot, technically very difficult but you did well. My suggestion would be to lift the darker areas, maybe consider reducing contrast a little that may help.

[Mike Hitchen]

Thank you for your comments.

Jerry - I had the same thoughts as yourself about the leaf. I had already trimmed off some other small spikes from that same bract but taking it all off turned it into a simple stem that sliced the frame in two. I had not tried as drastic a crop as you suggested but with your suggestion had a go anyway and it works better than I thought it would.
Jonathan - I have lifted contrast a bit then added some clarity to reintroduce a bit of punch and it definitely lifts it a bit.

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[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Mike, I like the composition of the repost, but the image looks a bit 'crunchy'. Maybe as a result of cropping, but maybe due to your contrast and clarity tweaks.

[Amanda Robinson]

The image with the "special" background is magnificent! Very nice work!