Black darter portrait

[thijs broekkamp]

Usually I don't make portraits, but I tried it for once. What do you think?

Canon eos 30d with sigma 150mm on tripod with wired remote.

http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae54/thijsbroekkamp/_MG_2683bwrktsrgbfull.jpg

[Kaushik Balakumar]

This is amazing close-up. Initially I could not quite comprehend what it was & I thought this was a spider. Then I read your title :)
What I really liked about this image is that the drops on the eyes which are showing (& magnifying) the details in the compound eyes.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Thijs,
Close......I think a few things are working against you for my tastes. I think you should have included the feet entirely....or....in this case crop the OOF bud on the right and off the top (eliminating the blown out area)....and this would look more like a crop and not clipping certain parts......emphasizing the face and dew.....plus the leg hairs where sharp! Let's see what others chime in!

[Steve Maxson]

All the small water droplets are spectacular, Thijs - particularly when combined with the mix of colors and patterns of the dragonfly. I tend to agree with Roman about the crop - I would prefer to see all of the hind legs. I would also suggest toning down some of the bright areas of the perch to help focus our attention on the dragonfly itself. :)

[Ken Childs]

Hey Thijs, I love the detail on the head, thorax and parts of the leg but everything is a bit distracting. Like others have said, it would be good to have all the feet showing but since they aren't, I'd crop a lot tighter along the lines of what Roman suggested. This also seems a bit dark so I brightened it and added some contrast.

[thijs broekkamp]

Thanks for the comments!

@Ken, thanks, it looks better indeed!