Dragonfly

[Dawn Currie]

Sorry I haven't been on the forum for a while. I have been putting all the great information into practice. I'm really happy with the results - this is one from Monday that I shot at the Viera Wetlands in central Florida.

Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L ISUSM, shot at 330mm, manual exposure, f/9 (to get sufficient DOF on the body and wings, and still keep the background OOF), 1/640 sec, on ISO 400, using a monopod

[Ken Childs]

Hey Dawn, you should be happy....the dragon looks great! The problem I see is that there is too much going on in the FG and BG and that could distract the viewer from the dragon. If this were mine, I'd crop in tighter which would remove much of the FG grass on the left. Then I'd clone out what's left. The center part of the perch is bright so toning it down would be a good idea. It will take some work but I think you could successfully protect the dragon and perch and blur the BG quite a but more. The dragon looks so good that I think it's worth the effort to take this one over the top!

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Dawn. Your dragonfly gave you a great pose and you have good overall sharpness. Ken has some good suggestions for you to consider. I like the dragonfly-in habitat look here, though I think a few tweaks will make the image even stronger. If this was mine, I would crop a little from the left - leaving the tallest 3 stems intact and cloning what's left of the shorter ones to clean up the LLC. Toning down the bright area of the perch as well as the lighter areas of the background will reduce distracting elements - you could try painting green at about 15% opacity over those areas till they look good to you. Finally, I would suggest running some NR on the background to smooth it out more. I think these minor changes will make this one shine. :S3:

[Brendan Dozier]

Nice capture and pose, Dawn, really like the detail in the wings. Ken & Steve make good suggestions, but you did well. I have yet to capture one of these guys. :S3:

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Dawn,
Ken and Steve gave some great advice already......so I will offer an in the field one. When I teach a macro course.....I stress the importance of the BG.....often as important as the subject itself! A step right......or in a touch......could have eliminated the main distracting blade of grass and that would have helped a ton! These guys are creatures of habit.....so slow gently movement can allow you to poistion yourself closer......and if spooked......they often return once you settle down. Just some things to keep in mind for next time out!

[Dawn Currie]

Thanks all for your feedback and patience. Finally had some time available to edit the image based on your feedback. Cloning, patching, NR, selective color adjustment, masking, etc, etc - not easy, but the result is a stronger image. Lesson learned - slow down in the field and find a better perch and point of view that will provide a less noisy FG and BG.