Female Scarlet Skimmer

[Don Lacy]

Found this image when cleaning up some files and since I have not made any new dragon images in way to long I worked the Raw file and liked the result

40D, 300 f/4 + 25mm Ext Tube, 1/50s at f/11, Manual mode, Evaluative Metered, Flash on manual with diffuser,ISO 400, Tripod,

[Allen Sparks]

beautiful image and nice use of flash. Love the forward wing position too. The blue band in the BG is a slight distraction for me. Interested to hear others comments.

[bhavya joshi]

Hi Don..Nice shot I also like the wing position.. As per my thinking I would suggested to crop below area If there is possible, there is lot of space in down.. :S3:

[Brendan Dozier]

Nice capture and composition, Don. Like the forward wing position and diagonal line. Agree with Joshi about a bit off bottom, and maybe remove the two small specular highlights on wings.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Don,
While in general I prefer tighter shots....I like the OP too.....even with the band. Gives it a sense of place. Of course that being said......I wouldn't mind it tighter either! In general, I like more room forward....so if you go with some off the bottom......take it off the left proportionally. All in all an excellent job!:cheers:

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Don. This one was well worth going back to! I like the long, clean diagonal perch and the dragonfly gave you a very nice pose. Good sharpness throughout and your subject stands out well from the background. I like the background - the blue is not bothering me. I, too, would suggest cloning the specular highlights from the wings - a minor point. Cropping and comp is always rather subjective. If I was to alter the crop, I think I would take a little off the left which would leave you with a tall, narrow look befitting your subject material. :S3: Very well done.

[Don Lacy]

Thanks everyone for your comments I like the elegant line of the blade of grass and feel it would be lost if a cropped from the bottom I might take some off the left taking it more towards a 2/3 proportion.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Not much to add. I like the clean presentaion, and I too am not bothered by the blue area of the BG.

[Mitch Haimov]

Love the BG as is and would not crop from bottom or top, but agree with cropping from left. Subject, pose, diagonal perch, sharpness are all excellent.

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Nice pose and sharpness, I like the colors and the BG, I would crop a bit from left and top. Very nice image.