Dragonfly nymph

[Steve Maxson]

For years I've wanted to photograph aquatic invertebrates and last summer I finally got around to doing it via a 2 gallon aquarium setup. This opens up a whole new world of macro subjects as there are a wide variety of invertebrates living in small ponds, rivers, and lakes. This dragonfly nymph is resting on a bladderwort plant. The black objects are the bladders which are actually traps for small invertebrates. They turn from green to black once they have captured something - this plant looks well fed. :) The small white specks are tiny air bubbles illuminated by the flash. 40D, MP-E 65 mm, 1/250, f/16, ISO 100, MT-24 twin lite, tripod. I cloned a lot of tiny specks in the water to clean up the image. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Steve,
Way cooll!!! I'd imagine this is a tiny, tiny, critter. It's sharp where it needs it and the light looks great! I would consider eliminating some of the things going out of the frame below the nymph.....even if 1 may be a hind leg....we wont know and it cleans the edge up giving a nice seperation. You are lethal with that lens/flash combo....and this one proves it once again!

[Steve Maxson]

Hey Steve,
Way cooll!!! I'd imagine this is a tiny, tiny, critter. It's sharp where it needs it and the light looks great! I would consider eliminating some of the things going out of the frame below the nymph.....even if 1 may be a hind leg....we wont know and it cleans the edge up giving a nice seperation. You are lethal with that lens/flash combo....and this one proves it once again!
Thanks for the comments, Roman. I guess I should have mentioned how large this critter was in the OP - this individual was about 20 mm in length - so not tiny compared to some of the other critters swimming around in pond water. :)

[Ken Childs]

Roman already summed it up..."Way cool!!!"

The pose and angle of the head looks great and the look on the face is somewhat intense! I wouldn't want to be a small bug or fish swimming near that! Roman's point about the bottom edge makes sense to me.

I've been meaning to setup something like this and considering my history in the aquarium biz, I'm ashamed to say I haven't done it yet. There are so many cool little critters like this living in my ponds, the local streams and swamps that I should really get my butt in gear and get one setup for next spring. :o

[Jim Bridges]

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:RelyOnVML/> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> It's great to see this type of work! You got some really nice details on the face and front legs....I would consider this image a success and well done Steve! :cheers:

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hey Steve, very well done. I have also used a 2 gallon tank for this type of work back when i shot film. Recently scanned some to clean-up the water. I sympathize with you as pond water has oodles of stuff to clone out. I should give it a try again with digital next summer.

[pat lillich]

wonderful! I love the contrasting color of the bladders and the detail of the face and the spiky hairs.

[Julie Kenward]

Super fun image, Steve! I'd look into lightening up the BG a bit with a slide in the midtones to the right. What a fun critter to look at!