Emerald damselflies Lestes sponsa

[Jonathan Ashton]

Camera Model Canon EOS 7D
Firmware Firmware Version 1.2.1
Shooting Mode Manual Exposure
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/125
Av( Aperture Value ) 8.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
ISO Speed 320
Auto ISO Speed OFF
Lens EF180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Image Quality RAW
Flash On
Flash Type External E-TTL
E-TTL II flash metering Evaluative flash metering
Flash Exposure Compensation -1
Shutter curtain sync 1st-curtain sync
FE lock OFF
White Balance Mode Auto
AF Mode Manual focusing

I have been waiting for some years now to find Emerald Damselflies mating, at last I have got an image. I used a variety of settings on the camera, this one was in manual mode.
All comments welcome.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Jonathan, I think I've never seen this species mating (actually I only seem to encounter females), so good find! Also nicely executed. Good position in the frame, nice BG and crisp and sharp where it needs to be! A slightly higher aperture may have gotten that front wing of the female in focus, without doing much damage to the BG.

[Kaushik Balakumar]

Excellent details and sharpness. Nice moment and a fine image Jon.

[Ken Childs]

Jon, this looks good as is and with a few minor tweaks, it should look even better. Overall it looks a bit dark but that should be easily fixed using SH. As Jerry pointed out, the female's front wing is just a bit OOF but some selective sharpening should help that.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks for your comments, I wondered if this was a little "flashy" as I had set the camera to manual as opposed to AV mode. I will have a go at a re work failing that I will post another similar one baring in mind your comments/suggestions.

[Vida van der Walt]

Great work Jonathan. Lovely detail and I prefer the original post (contrast and comp are better).:)

[Anita Bower]

Congratulations on getting the shot you wanted. Nice.

[Jim Bridges]

I've been chasing damsels for several years and yet to get any mating so I'm amazed when I see a image like this. The colors on both are wonderful to see...to me this image would be a prize!

[Julie Kenward]

How exciting for you Jon! Lovely image...well cropped and composed. If you want to play with the catch lights a bit to tone them down, choose a shade of the eye next to it with the eye dropper tool and then grab a brush and reduce the opacity to about 15-20% and brush over them. It takes the glare off but leaves the catchlight shape. Sometimes it works; sometimes not so much - but its always worth a try.

Again, congrats on the wonderful catch.

[Steve Maxson]

Nice job getting both in focus, Jonathan, and I like the behavior you illustrated. I don't mind that some of the wings are a little soft - if you had used a higher f/stop, the background would likely show undesired detail. I like Jule's suggestion about toning down the catchlights a little. Well done.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks again everyone, and Jules - good idea I will remember that on subsequent posts - you have already got me doing that on backgrounds - it never occurred to me that it would prove useful on the yes.