Backlit Swamp Spreadwing Damselfly

[Ken Childs]

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p193/kjchilds/BPN/IMG_8028.jpg

Canon EOS REBEL XT
Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS @ 400mm
Av mode
1/1000"
F8
ISO: 200
CS3

I would have been happier if the head was separated from the stick but I couldn't get the proper angle for that to happen.

[Allen Sparks]

Nice shot Ken. I've never seen this species. I think the mosaic wings are the strong point in this shot and are well shown here. I think with a little different angle (hard to get as you mention!) it would be possible to show more of the left wings...not sure what that would do to the body and the stick though.

[Julie Kenward]

I see what you mean about the stick/eye conundrum. That happens...but it would have made for a stronger image as you suggested. I like the b&w treatment here but would really sharpen up the head and body of the df so they pop against that light BG.

That's some pretty sweet bokeh in the bg!

[Ken Childs]

I see what you mean about the stick/eye conundrum. That happens...but it would have made for a stronger image as you suggested. I like the b&w treatment here but would really sharpen up the head and body of the df so they pop against that light BG.

That's some pretty sweet bokeh in the bg!
What you're seeing is early morning light bouncing off a pond and this is the image as it was taken. No b&w treatment. :)

[Myer Bornstein]

I think the BG needs some blurring to get rid of the halos otherwise I lke the picture

[Jerry van Dijk]

Nice image with good contrasts and texture. Too bad about that head, but if you've moved around, you would have had much less of those awesome wings in focus. I might have opted for smaller aperture, to get even more of the wings and tail in focus. I like the halos in the BG because you can tell this was taken close to water.

[Anita Bower]

The composition here is very nice, with the stem angled a bit and the damselfly in the left upper third. The bokeh in the top part of the image is just lovely. The image as a whole, doesn't work well for me--the silhouette is not interesting enough (I suppose because of the head problem you described), and the BG on lower half is a bit boring. Thanks for sharing.