Dragonfly nymph - before & after

[Steve Maxson]

I think this nymph is one of the Skimmers (Family Libellulidae) and is about 18 mm in length. It was photographed in my 2 gallon aquarium setup. 5D II, 100 mm macro, 1/80, f/16, ISO 100, MT-24EX macro twin flash (diffused), tripod, cable release. NR on the background and I removed hundreds of tiny bits of debris from the water to clean up the image. Jerry suggested that I include an image that wasn't cleaned up for comparison - so a couple such versions of this image are presented below. As usual, all comments are welcome and appreciated.

[Steve Maxson]

Here is the converted RAW file with a similar crop and sharpened. All the little specks are not visible to my eye until the flash fires.

[Steve Maxson]

The more you zoom in on the image, the more specks become visible. Some of these would not show up on a web-sized image, but would be evident in a large print. This photo is perhaps a worst case scenario, but they all seem to have substantial amounts of floating specks that are visible - I spent at least 2 hours cleaning this one up. :t3

[Roman Kurywczak]

This is awesome Steve! I think the body could go a touch lighter........but still fantastic and thanks for showing us the work that you go through. I think this will go a long way in helping people realize how difficult this type of photography really is! Great job as usual!:cheers:

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Steve, thanks for including the original work. The specks are definately a distraction and you leave me in awe about how well your images have turned out by your hard work.
Could it be that the specks are imperfections in the glass of your aquarium rather than floating debris? They'll bounce of the light from the flash, causing them to light up. If this were true, you should be rid of the problem if you are able to fire the flashes not directly through the glass facing your lens, but from the side or top of the aquarium. Not sure how that will work out when shooting 1:1.

[Steve Maxson]

Could it be that the specks are imperfections in the glass of your aquarium rather than floating debris? They'll bounce of the light from the flash, causing them to light up. If this were true, you should be rid of the problem if you are able to fire the flashes not directly through the glass facing your lens, but from the side or top of the aquarium. Not sure how that will work out when shooting 1:1.

Hi Jerry. Although I started off firing flashes through the front glass of the aquarium, I very seldom do that now - I much prefer the light quality I get with either 1) one flash firing from each side of the tank or 2) with one from the side and one from the top. It's still possible that there could be minute imperfections in the glass that are being lit up, but certainly some of these move from one frame to the next indicating that they are floaters. :S3:

[Dave Leroy]

That is a ton of work and it has paid off with a very fine photo. Excellent job.

It must also take a lot of time and dedication to get to the stage of taking a photo given the variety of insects you post from the aquarium set up.

I really like the full out pose of the dragonfly nymph.

Dave

[Jerry van Dijk]

but certainly some of these move from one frame to the next indicating that they are floaters. :S3:

I take that as experimental proof!:S3: I think you are doing a great job with these images, because we rarely see any of these critters.

[Brendan Dozier]

Another great aquarium critter shot, Steve! The Skimmer is very interesting looking and like the pose and how you framed the shot. Nice details, light glow, and like the vegitation.
Thanks for showing us your work process too. :S3: