Damsel and passengers

[Steve Maxson]

This damselfly emerged from an aquarium containing aquatic invertebrates that I had been photographing. I noticed the shed exoskeleton of the nymph and soon located the adult on a nearby window. I photographed it indoors to eliminate wind and control the background. Somehow it had already managed to pick up six parasitic red mites. 40D, MP-E 65 mm, 1/250, f/16, ISO 100, macro twin flash (diffused), hand held. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Razor sharp and I think you did very well composing this. BG may be a bit smooth for some for some tastes.....but it works for me as presented very nicely! :cheers::cheers:

[Ken Childs]

Wow, Steve!
This looks fantastic! Great colors, comp and the clarity is wonderful! Are the twin catchlights from the twin flash?

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks for the comments Roman and Ken. Ken, you are correct that the double catchlights are from the twin flash. Usually, when I have a double catchlight, I carefully clone out one of them. In this case, I didn't think I would be able to pull it off without making the eye look abnormal.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Give that man a cigar! What a great shot, beautifully focussed and gorgeous colours. I am hoping to get some emerald damselfly shots tomorrow.

[Julie Kenward]

That's a beauty, Steve, and I think you chose right to leave the flash in this time. Excellent sharpness and love the composition.

[Mike Fuhr]

Very nice -- sharp with great colors, and I like the background. Unique composition, as well. They are hairy little buggers, aren't they?

[Vida van der Walt]

Excellent shot Steve! Colours, detail, light, comp, all perfect.:)

[Anita Bower]

Wow! So sharp! Excellent.

[Jim Bridges]

Congratulations on this image! The sharpness, color and composition are outstanding.

[Dan Brown]

A beauty Steve! BG, HA, sharpness and exposure are tops! If I were to be greedy here, I would want the abdomen area to be sharp, maybe using f22 would have achieved this, but this is super!