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View Full Version : Who framed Aeshna isosceles?



Jerry van Dijk
10-26-2011, 02:19 PM
Here's one from last year. I just love the eyes on these fellows, but they kept hiding between the Typha and reed. It was late in the afternoon and I guess they were coolling down too much. I thought to make the best of it and try something new by framing them between some of the leaves, to give that "I'm sneaking up on you" feeling. I'm still not sure whether I like it enough to make this a keeper. What do you think?

Panasonic DMC-FZ18, handheld, 83mm (500mm eq.), ISO-100, f/4.2, 1/400 sec.
Significant crop, minor tweaks on sharpness and levels. Cloned out some debris from the water in the BG.

Dave Leroy
10-27-2011, 11:05 AM
I really like the idea and focus and sharpness of dragonfly are spot on. On the downside, I feel framing is a bit too tight and I wish the shadow on left hand frame was not there.

Julie Kenward
10-27-2011, 06:27 PM
I agree with Dave - the df is beautiful and really sharp - I' see what I could do about losing most of the surroundings, though...he's too beautiful to be hidden by all the OOF elements around him IMO.

Brendan Dozier
10-27-2011, 08:34 PM
Great looking Dfly, Jerry, and nice capture considering the obstacles you were working with. Vertical works well, and good suggestions from Dave and Jules to make it stronger.

Jerry van Dijk
10-28-2011, 02:45 AM
Thanks for the comments! Unfortunately, this was a case of "beggars can't be choosers" and this was the best I could do. I got one image without the clutter, but at a different angle. I'll try and post it later.

Ken Childs
10-29-2011, 09:35 AM
Hey Jerry, I think this one is definitely worth keeping. The dragon looks good but the bright surroundings are overwhelming it so cropping in tighter and then toning down what's left might be the way to go.

OvidiuCavasdan
10-30-2011, 10:45 AM
Pose and sharpness are nice, I agree about toning down a bit the bright greens.

Jerry van Dijk
10-30-2011, 02:24 PM
thanks Ken and Ovidiu. I'm afraid of cropping further, this is already a big crop. Toning down the OOF green might be a good idea!

Steve Maxson
10-30-2011, 04:17 PM
Hi Jerry. I like what you are trying to do here, though shooting between the leaves doesn't leave you a lot of wiggle room for composition. You have good sharpness on the dragonfly and a vertical comp works well here, but I would wish that the leaf on the left had been just a little farther to the left in the frame. You might consider removing the two spots (light and dark) below the tip of the dragonfly's abdomen. :S3:

Jerry van Dijk
11-01-2011, 06:58 AM
It's funny how one can get blind to his own images :eek3:. I actually removed those spots in the original and somehow posted an old version here without noticing that the two spots were still in..... Thanks for all the compositional suggestions, something to work on next year!