Flame Skimmer (Libellula saturata)

[Brendan Dozier]

Finally got some dragonfly captures. Took this at the botanic gardens the other day. Liked the head details and the BG was a bit busy so rotated & cropped tight. ACR, CS5, touched up some areas of BG and a few spots on fly.

7D, EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM +2.0x, HH
1/125
13.0
ISO 400

[bhavya joshi]

Lovely shot Brendan.. Details are wonderful but The Head Part is not clear to me, and I think Tight cropped is not good Idea. You have Nice lens, you can focus good on head part and then you crop till image looks clear. More tight cropped can make the image unclear..
But you have try well :S3:

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks Joshi, I see what you mean. I think my focus point was on the body and not the head, so it is not as clear. I will keep trying for better images, now that I have a good place to find them.

[Ken Childs]

Hey Brendan, if the focus had been on the head, cropping in tight like this would definitely be the way to go but it looks like you barely missed getting the head in sharp focus. You might try to selectively sharpen the head but I'm not sure you'll be able to squeak out enough sharpness. If it does work, move on to the leaf....toning down the top of it will remove a distraction and should take this one up a few notches. :S3:

Which botanical garden were you at?

[Brendan Dozier]

Thanks Ken, good advice. I think I was just happy to finally actually capture one of these guys, and now I'm starting to understand their behavior more. This is the San Diego Botanic Gardens, an awesome place!

[Ken Childs]

This is the San Diego Botanic Gardens, an awesome place!
I'm SoCal born and raised which is why I was asking but Ive never been to this Botanic Gardens. My son lives in Vista so the next time I visit him, I'll try to make time for a visit to these gardens.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Brendan. Good advice given above. The colors on this dragonfly are beautiful and I like the comp. This image also gives an excellent view of the way some df species tuck their front legs up tight against their body. I hope you have some more photo chances with these guys. :S3:

[Paul Lagasi]

Brendan as said above, good advice has been given, I like the image, nicely composed. Is this a big crop?...that may account for the softness, just my two cents.