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View Full Version : Dragonfly on a plant



Bob Blanchard
01-13-2008, 10:51 PM
Again, Macro not being my primary genre, I am not up to speed on all the species I photograph. I have no idea what type of dragonfly this is, but they are common here.

The backlighting on this was intentional. I like backlighting if the opportunity presents itself for impact through back or bottom lighting. I actually like the effect in this one, but am anxious to hear your unvarnished opinions. I will start the nits with the need to clone out the dark spots on the plant (I actually just noticed them...or perhaps my standards have risen since I captured this image ;))

Canon 1DsMII, ef 180mm f/3.5 macro, ISO 400, 1/500, f/8:
http://CatcherofLight.smugmug.com/photos/243105487-L-1.jpg

Arjan van der Stelt
01-14-2008, 05:18 AM
Nice shot love the DOF in this one, maybe you can do a little shadow/highlights or curves to lighten up the dragonfly for some more details on his body.....

Robert O'Toole
01-14-2008, 05:23 AM
Hi Bob,

Love the subject, good sharpness and color.

With you on the backlighting, I like the dramatic effects. Backlighting looks good on the wings and legs but it usually presents a problem with hotspots. Here the buds are a problem and of course the head and thorax and head are lacking detail since they are underexposed. Flash or a reflector would have helped out a lot.

Good image but some fill light would have helped tremendously.

These guys are so tiny its hard to decide on cropping for this I would have went for a Horiz crop I think, but I am biased and not a big square crop fan.

Robert

Steve Foss
01-14-2008, 12:11 PM
Bob, I like the comp and the crop, and agree with other positives already mentioned, as well as negatives. I'd add that I very much like the BG in the lower half of the image, but the bright BG spots higher up distract me, particularly the hottest portion right in front of and above the dragonfly. I would love to see the lower BG as the whole BG.

Mike Moats
01-14-2008, 02:58 PM
Hey Bob, as you stated the shot was set up as a backlit image, and I think you did well to not lose all the color and details in the dragonfly as strong backlighting well do without the aid of flash. I like the shading and the interesting patterns in the BG. Good details on the main subject.