Great Blue Skimmer old male

[Ken Childs]

Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS @ 375mm
Av mode
1/200"
F20
ISO:400
Canon 430EX: On, Fired (comp -3)
LR & CS3
HH

It looks like this is the year of the Great Blue Skimmer. Before 2010, I'd seen one (maybe) at my place but this year they're flying all over and some are acting like Dashers which means they're landing on things right by my house and are allowing me to get relatively close.

[Allen Sparks]

wonderul image Ken! You were really able to stop down on this one to get the DOF needed and I think the fill flash worked well. Great background too. Nicely done. I like the pose and diagonal perch too.

[Steve Maxson]

A cool image, Ken. It looks like everything came together on this one - pose, sharpness, exposure, comp, and background. Well done.

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Great pose, sharp, good details and nice composition. Very good DOF and Killer BG. Very nice image!

[Julie Kenward]

It did all come together on this one, didn't it? Only thing you might try is to shrink down the catchlight a bit on his front eye and maybe tone down that back of his body just a slight bit (I'd use the blue of his body to fill in at a low opacity just to cut the whiteness of it a bit.) Excellent pose, DOF...it's a stunner!

[thijs broekkamp]

Nice one, with the very clean background!

[Ken Childs]

Only thing you might try is to shrink down the catchlight a bit on his front eye and maybe tone down that back of his body just a slight bit (I'd use the blue of his body to fill in at a low opacity just to cut the whiteness of it a bit.) Excellent pose, DOF...it's a stunner!
Hey Jules, i know that lowering the whiteness of the thorax might make this a more pleasing image and I originally considered doing that but I left it as is because that's what an old Great Blue looks like. Changing that look would be like darkening the hair in a shot of an old man with white hair. :)

[Anita Bower]

Wonderful! I like the diagonals in this image--the body and perch; the wings. Beautiful BG. Everything works just right!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Ken,
See.....it's scary that people are starting to think alike in here!!! Glad I didn't recommend toning down the body first:o......good to see the explanation too. The angles and light all came together on this one......just a great job all around!

[Charles Wesley]

Ken,

Great work on this one. Like the colors, contrast and angle on this one. Will post a DF later today. Keep fighting the wind on this island when shooting BF & DF's. Need some ideas on what to do. Every time I get ready to go out and shoot macros the wind is blowing at least 5 mph.

It really ticks me off to no end...
____________________________

Charlie Wesley
St. Augustine Beach, FL
http://naturesphotographs.com

[Ken Childs]

Ken,

Keep fighting the wind on this island when shooting BF & DF's. Need some ideas on what to do. Every time I get ready to go out and shoot macros the wind is blowing at least 5 mph.

It really ticks me off to no end...

Hey Charlie,

Try a higher iso and a strong flash on full power to get a fast shutter speed.

Also setting up perches in semi sheltered areas might entice dragonflies out of the wind.

[Charles Wesley]

Ken,

Thanks for the help. Just moved my snags closer to the house. Will try high ISO's and High Speed flash sync this week.

Thanks so much...
_______________________
Charlie Wesley
St Augustine Beach, FL

[Jonathan Ashton]

Very nice shot indeed, I like the angle and the colours.