Flight of the dragonfly

[Stu Bowie]

I dont normally post here, but thought I would share this dragonfly hovering over water. Not really macro, as I used a long lens.:)

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 400mm
1/1000
F/6.3
ISO 640

Exp Comp +0.33
Hand held

[Ken Childs]

Hi Stuart, for our purposes, macro is more about the subject than it is about what lens was used to capture the image. I shoot many of my macros with my 100-400mm. :)

This is a nice capture of a very difficult subject. The BG looks good and the blurred wings adds a sense of movement. The eye looks off to me, maybe because I can't see much detail there. Is that how it looked in the original?

[Stu Bowie]

The eye looks off to me, maybe because I can't see much detail there. Is that how it looked in the original?

Thanks Ken. The eye in the original had a lot of glare, so I cloned in to remove the glare. Maybe I should have left it, as now I notice it doesnt look too good.:(

[Ken Childs]

Dragonfly eyes can be a real bugger to work on! It's hard to do any major work on one and have it still look natural.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Stuart. Good to see you here in Macro. Dragonflies in flight are usually very difficult subjects and you did a good job with this one. Ken has already stated my comments so I won't repeat. Other than the detail in the eye, this is nicely done. :) We hope to see you here more often.

[Anita Bower]

Welcome! This looks like a beautifully painted airplane coming in for a landing!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Stuart,
Be careful.....these can be addictive!!! Comments on eye covered but I will give you one more in the field tip......push the ISO even higher. Remember that noise shows up mostly very dark areas.....so with the light needed and given your good BG......easy fix and will give you a bit more speed or DOF to try differnt wing loooks. Flying DF make BIF a piece of cake..... and great practice! Keep them coming and don't worry about the lens choice.....works for all of us here!

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all for the great feedback.

Roman, I will definately remember to pump the ISO next time I get a chance to shoot these guys. You are right, after shooting these guys, any BIF will be a piece of cake.:)

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Stuart, well done!
Most comments are already covered. I would consider cropping this as 4:3 (or is it 3:4, I never know whether horizontal or vertical comes first). It bothers me that the dragonfly's abdomen is very centered now. Cropping will put it near the LR ROT hotspot, adding power to your composition.
BIF, is that Bird In Flight or Bee In Flight? The latter may give you as hard a job as this one, but check out a wonderful example some posts above!

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks for your feedback Jerry.