Green Darner portrait

[Steve Maxson]

I found this Common Green Darner (Anax junius) floating in a lake in late October. Between the cold water and the cool (50 degree) air temperatures, it was not very frisky - and may have been near the end of it's natural life. I brought it indoors to try a "studio" portrait - a different look for me. 40D, 100 mm f/2.8 macro, 0.6 sec, f/20, ISO 200, tripod. Natural overcast light from the left and fill from an off-camera 580EX flash with Apollo micro diffuser from the right. RAW file PP in CS5 - curves, saturation, NR on background, crop. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

[Ken Childs]

Steve, everything about this shot looks fantastic! I don't think you could have chose a better color BG to pose this gal on.

Extremely well done! :cheers:

[Jay Sheinfield]

Steve,

Absolutely fab! Wonderful lighting and detail. I might have done a gradient shade on the green surface just to give it some depth, but terrific as is.................

[Andrew McLachlan]

Steve, nothing more to add. I think Ken summed it up - "Extremely well done!"

[Geoff Warnock]

I don't think I've ever seen a large dragonfly photo with such comprehensive DOF. Excellent job, and good thinking to set him up in the 'studio'.

[Julie Kenward]

That has to be one of my favorites of yours, Steve. It's pure perfection. The exposure, the detail and clarity and the colors are all extraordinary.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Hi Steve. Indeed extremely well done! DOF, detail, composition all top notch. Technical excellence. I'm sure it is just personal preference, but I do think that a subdued orange shade (complimentary color to the green) for the background would have accentuated the green of the DF. I did a quick color replace in PS to show what I was thinking; and I think that after the image was taken is probably too late to make the change. Just something to consider if you happen upon another similar DF. Steve, did you upgrade to CS5? ACR6 is a definite plus. regards~Bill

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Steve,
Looks great! I do think Bill's BG choice would also work. He's got pretty intact wings for end of life!!! Light is balanced perfectly!

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks for your comments everyone. Bill - your background color looks good - certainly a viable alternative. I used the green because that's what I had handy. I guess I'll need to increase my color palette. :) Yes, I upgraded to CS5. It has some nice features, but I'm still having some issues with insufficient RAM error messages that I'm trying to figure out.

[Thomas Herou]

Exellent shot!
Superb BG and colors!

[Adrian David]

Absolutely beautiful!''Extremely well done":)