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Steve Maxson
07-21-2008, 05:17 PM
This is a male blue dasher (females don't have the green eye or blue abdomen) resting on a bulrush stem in a lake. Note his traveling companion, an orange-red mite attached to his leg - getting a free meal, I presume. 20D, 300 f/4, 1/500, f/11, ISO 400, no flash, handheld from a kayak. Comments are welcome.

Gus Cobos
07-21-2008, 05:58 PM
Excellent Steve...nicely done...:)
I like the razor sharp details in the wings and the eyes. The colors are great, and the little red rider puts this over the top...congrats, I like it very much, looking foward to your next one...:cool:

Ed Vatza
07-21-2008, 06:39 PM
Hi Steve,

Nice d-fly. I agree with Gus that the focus on the eye is very sharp. Looks good. As does the color and background. But the wings look a bit soft to these old eyes. The same goes as we move toward the tail. And personally, I'm not fond of the way the branch blocks the wings.

Robert O'Toole
07-22-2008, 10:35 AM
Love green and blue tones and all the detail. Lighting is very good.

The bright perch distracts the viewers eye away from the important elements in the image. Remember that very light or very dark tones will always draw the eye. Taking care of this should be an important step in everyone's workflow.

Here I copied the layer, darkened it, used a hide all mask and painted the perch. Took 15-20 seconds and I think it really enhances the image.

Robert

Robert O'Toole
07-22-2008, 10:41 AM
Here is a side by side for comparison.

Robert

Steve Maxson
07-22-2008, 12:40 PM
Love green and blue tones and all the detail. Lighting is very good.

The bright perch distracts the viewers eye away from the important elements in the image. Remember that very light or very dark tones will always draw the eye. Taking care of this should be an important step in everyone's workflow.

Here I copied the layer, darkened it, used a hide all mask and painted the perch. Took 15-20 seconds and I think it really enhances the image.

Robert

Hi Robert. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to work on this image. Your repost is clearly an improvement.

Mike Moats
07-23-2008, 05:59 AM
Hey Steve, nice capture, and Robert has done a nice job on correcting the perch.

Roman Kurywczak
07-23-2008, 08:17 AM
Hi Steve,
Robert's perch darkening is an improvement but since nobody mentioned it........hand held in the kayak!!! Bonus points just for that and getting it sharp.