I'm stalking you!

[Steve Maxson]

Another Darner dragonfly nymph (Aeshna spp.) photographed in my 2 gallon aquarium. For an insect, these guys have a lot of personality. I like the way they can turn their bodies to orient toward a potential prey item - which sometimes seems to be me! 5D II, 100 mm macro, 1/200, f/16, ISO 400, MT-24EX macro twin flash (diffused), tripod, cable release. I removed a lot of tiny bits of debris from the water, toned down the brighter sand grains, and ran NR on the background. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Excellent compsition Steve! The curved body nicely fills the frame and focus and sharpness are spot on. I might be inclined to brighten up the image a bit. Esp. the left part of the head is a bit dark. I must add to that that my work monitor isn't the best available....

[Jay Sheinfield]

Another engaging composition. I agree with Jerry on the lightening...........Nice DOF, really puts his head right in your face:S3: Nicely done..........Also love the texture of pebbles.

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks for the comments Jerry and Jay. Here is a repost which is a little brighter and I also lightened the left side of the head just a bit.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Excellent shot Steve, my only criticism is the sand, is it necessary? / Are these creatures always on a sandy floor?
The question is of course what is an alternative, I wonder how it would look if you painted some paper or used a photograph of some soil or something like that and placed it under the aquarium and dispensed with the sand - what do you think?

[Jay Sheinfield]

Cool repost, it highlights the almost translucent quality of the head. Love it!

[Steve Maxson]

Excellent shot Steve, my only criticism is the sand, is it necessary? / Are these creatures always on a sandy floor?
The question is of course what is an alternative, I wonder how it would look if you painted some paper or used a photograph of some soil or something like that and placed it under the aquarium and dispensed with the sand - what do you think?

Thanks for your comment Jonathan. In the ponds where these nymphs are found they are not always (or probably not even often) on a clean sandy substrate like this. They would typically be found lurking amongst the aquatic vegetation or on a bottom covered with decaying leaves, stems, etc. I have to admit that sand isn't my favorite substrate for photos. I hadn't thought about your idea to use a photo under the aquarium - I'm guessing that it would be pretty easy to tell that the nymph was standing on a glass surface rather than on a real substrate. At some point, I may have to scoop out some of the decaying material from the bottom of a pond and try that in my aquarium. :S3:

[Paul Lagasi]

Very nice capture, before reading I wondered how you got this image....repost rocks...I gotta try this, I have an old aquarium around here somewhere. Kinda think the sand is ok.

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Excellent pose, composition and details on the head. Repost is even better.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Steve,
The snad doesn't bother me.....although the decaying leaves may be cool! The repost adresses my recommendations......as usual.....super job!

[Brendan Dozier]

This is awesome, Steve! Repost looks great, its head looks like it is going to pop right out of the frame!

[Steve Maxson]

Thanks everyone for your comments! :S3:

[christopher galeski]

very nice Steve,repost better,and I dont mind the sand.thanks.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Steve, repost works great, the light on the head is much more balanced. I would add a little contrast, though. Adding decaying material as a substrate might look more natural, but will probably triple your time cloning the floating debris out! :S3: You might try some black or dark grey sand instead. But as you say, many ponds where these critters lurk have sandy bottoms.

[Steve Maxson]

Adding decaying material as a substrate might look more natural, but will probably triple your time cloning the floating debris out! :S3:

You're probably right Jerry. :t3 I already spend 2-3 hours just cleaning up many of these images that I've taken using "clean" water and "clean" substrate. It becomes very tedious!!

[Jerry van Dijk]

You're probably right Jerry. :t3 I already spend 2-3 hours just cleaning up many of these images that I've taken using "clean" water and "clean" substrate. It becomes very tedious!!

Hi Steve, I would be very curious to see an image which hasn't been cleaned up for us to judge if it is all worth your effort. I bet that when you take an image like this with an underwater camera in the field that the water wouldn't be clean either.

Check out these galleries of one of Hollands best nature photographers
http://www.rubensmit.nl/en_gallery.php?galleryId=11

and of one of our Hollands best underwater photographers, who makes images like yours in natural habitat (check out the water beetle larvae eating a tadpole!)
http://www.kolvoortonderwaterfoto.nl/en/photos-netherlands/freshwater/underwater_insects

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Steve, I would be very curious to see an image which hasn't been cleaned up for us to judge if it is all worth your effort. I bet that when you take an image like this with an underwater camera in the field that the water wouldn't be clean either.

Check out these galleries of one of Hollands best nature photographers
http://www.rubensmit.nl/en_gallery.php?galleryId=11

and of one of our Hollands best underwater photographers, who makes images like yours in natural habitat (check out the water beetle larvae eating a tadpole!)
http://www.kolvoortonderwaterfoto.nl/en/photos-netherlands/freshwater/underwater_insects

Hi Jerry. Thanks for sending these links.Trying to photograph these invertebrates in the field raises the degree of difficulty enormously! I agree that the water wouldn't be clean - and that's pretty evident in the images these photographers are creating. In the shallow ponds where I collect my subjects, just stepping into the water raises big clouds of debris. I've tried a little (very little) underwater landscape photography in shallow areas of the lake in front of my house and just being in the water and slowly moving around stirs up a lot of debris - in addition to all the small items that are already suspended in the water column.
The next time I post an image, I'll include a couple "before cleanup" versions so folks can see what I'm dealing with. To some extent, how much to clean up an image like this is a matter of personal taste and style. :S3: