Common Blue Damselfly (teneral)

[Jonathan Ashton]

Tripod & Mongoose 3.5 head Canon 50D Canon 180mm macro ISO 400 1/125 sec f8
Despite the lousy weather I managed to grab a few shots in the breeze, this is my first this year.

All C & C welcome.

[Mitch Haimov]

Very nice subject and BG in soft light, Jonathan. Lowering the camera to the damselfly's eye level would have made the image more intimate. You may want to consider throwing a curve at this one to increase the contrast.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Mitch, thank you for your comments, I agree a lower angle was desirable - but alas impossible, the tripod legs would have disturbed the grass.
I have already increased contrast and to be honest it is already a little OTT compared to reality, the damselfly was quite subtly coloured and the blacks were not black at all. I am with you in so far as I wanted to make the image more impactive but I still wanted to stay somewhere near to relaity.

[bhavya joshi]

Nice full body you get..and with nice sharp.. but i think if you take more close up.. with full body it will be better..because head is not properly seeing.. to me., overall it is nice shot.:S3:

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jonathan,
I actually like everything yo ugot here.....except the crop. I know you prefer the FF.....but if you scroll with the browser.....eliminating 1/2 the space below the damsel.....I feel the pano comp is stronger as it accentuates the body. Just some food for thought and looking forward to another great season from you!

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Jon, good to see you finally got one! I would have taken the camera off the tripod to be able to get lower! That curved leaf would have made a great leading line through the frame.
Lovely BG and I like the subtle colors of an overcast day. Although the images seems a little washed out at first glance, the black are actually quite nice and deep. It might help to tone down the leaf a little.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks for the C&C everyone. I doubt I would have obtained a sharp image if I had taken the camera off the tripod, I must admit I was tempted. Regards the crop, I appreciate what has been said, again I nearly cropped before submitting but I liked the arch of the blade of grass.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jonathan. You're off to a good start for the year - looking forward to more. :S3: Nice job getting the focal plane perpendicular to the damselfly to get good overall sharpness at f/8. I like the even light, the background, and the curving grass blade. Cropping is always rather subjective and the comp works, as presented, but I think the image would be even stronger using Roman's crop suggestion. :S3: Well done.