Spangled Skimmer, male

[Allen Sparks]

Canon 7D, 70-200mm II plus 2x TC III, monopod
ISO 400, f8, 1/1000s, EC -1/3

Background is dead pine straw which was about a foot behind perch. Played around with different apertures to balance wing tip sharpness with bg blur. any comments appreciated.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Allen,
Nice to see you back! I love the color contrast here....really makes the DF stand out! As yo uknow I prefer more DOF.....wings could go a touch sharper but I do realize with that BG why you chose that aperture....so a good overall decision. This was composed very nicely and the lighting was also handled very well. Very nice job!

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Allen, that is one spectacular BG! I really love the blue on that reddish color! I would have preferred a stop down to get the head a little sharper, but as you say that may have ruined your BG. Nice work!

[Mitch Haimov]

Nicely done, Allen! Excellent BG makes your subject pop. As mentioned above, more DOF for your subject would have been desirable, but understand the balancing act. You may want to consider cropping from the right.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Allen. Beautiful blues on your dragonfly and a nice diagonal comp. Good sharpness on the body, but you might try a little more selective sharpening on the head. The background color contrasts nicely with the blue of the dragonfly - though I'm not as fond of the background as the others - the only reason being that there is just enough pattern and detail in the background to draw my eye away from your subject. You might consider selecting the background and blurring it more. :S3:

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Beautiful color combination, nicely composed. I like the BG as it is. Very nice!
I would clean the bright piece detached from the perch.