Dusky Clubtail

[Steve Maxson]

This is a Dusky Clubtail dragonfly (Gomphus spicatus) that I photographed recently on a cool, overcast day. This individual was very cooperative and allowed me to photograph it from several different angles. 40D, Canon 180 f/3.5 macro, 1/13, f/16, ISO 400, macro twin flash at 1/32 power for fill, tripod, mirror lock, cable release. Comments are welcome.

[Gordon Craig]

With a cooperative subject if the aperture had been stepped towards F/22 or even F/32 the leave would have been much sharper. Overall a nice picture.

[Julie Kenward]

Excellent use of flash here, Steve...I probably wouldn't have guessed that if you hadn't said so and that's great! One thing that might have made the comp even stronger would be to aim that tail up towards the ULC and have the head land more towards the lower right area, crossing the frame almost diagonally.

Nice details. As Gordon mentioned, if you could have pushed it another stop or two the leaves would have been even crisper. You might still be able to do a selective sharpening in that area.

[Bob Allen]

Ditto to the above, plus perhaps repair the damaged leaf in front of the odo.

[Bruce Enns]

Hi Steve, As Jules said, very nice use of subtle flash fill. Overall I really like the composition with the curving diagonal leaf fold and the body position of the dragon, the lighting and exposure are excellent. I like the slightly out of focus rear part of the leaf, but agree with the relatively minor repair on the leaf in front right. I might also try to clone away the brighter leaf fragment LL that disrupts the diagonal mentioned earlier (and do a better job than I did here!). I also added a bit of DOF brush to selected parts of the wings. What do you think?

Cheers!
Bruce