Sympetrum striolatum for 1000th post!

[Jerry van Dijk]

My 1000th post on BPN! I learned a lot here since my first... thanks for contributing to that!
Taken early september this year. C&C welcome.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor Micro 200mm f/4D IF-ED, handheld, arms resting on concrete pond edge, ISO-100, f/4.2, 1/400 sec. ACR6.3/CS5.

[Julie Kenward]

Way to go, Jerry! I think I remember when you first started!

I like the repeating pattern of the reeds but wish the one on the right wasn't quite as blurred as it is. The image looks a tiny bit dark on my monitor - maybe a gentle curves adjustment to lighten/brighten those midtones and dark tones would pump this up a bit more. As far as the df goes...nicely done on DOF - you really nailed him from front to back.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Thanks Julie! I think you had a large hand in my development as a photographer, since my main subject is macro and you were macro-moderater when I first started at BPN, still using a bridge camera with screw-on closeup lens. So thanks a bunch for that!!
Regarding the image: I see what you mean with the blurred stem. One stop down would have just gotten more of the FG stem in focus. I tried a simple shadows adjustment to brighten up the dark areas, but the colors got quite funky and I kind of like the gloominess with the dead plants and the subdued autumn light. Curves will probably give me much more control over what's happening, so I'll have a go at it!

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jerry and congrats on your 1,000th post! You did well achieving the slightly gloomy autumn look. Good sharpness and DOF on your dragonfly at f/4.2. Jules makes a good point about the OOF stem on the right. You might consider trying to remove the tall OOF stem on the right as I think that would improve the comp. Another alternative might be to crop from both sides to give you a vertical image and thereby placing more emphasis on the dragonfly. :S3:

[Jerry van Dijk]

Thanks Steve, and also for your contribution to our learning process here in macro! I tried the vertical comp, but found it a bit boring. I like the tension the OOF stems introduce in the image. Cloning out the far OOF stem might be the best of both worlds, although that one most closely echoos the perch of the dragonfly.

[Arthur Morris]

Mazel tov and thanks on reaching 1K. My big problem here is that the subject is too lost in a big frame. Getting a lot closer would have likely been much better. EXP and SH good.

[Dave Leroy]

Congratulations Jerry, a very nice milestone. Lots of good comments and suggestions already given. It is always fun to post our ideas and get such good comments, suggestions and options.

[Jerry van Dijk]

"Mazel tov and thanks on reaching 1K. "

And thank you for making this place possible!

"It is always fun to post our ideas and get such good comments, suggestions and options. "

It certainly is!

[Arthur Morris]

YAW; that was our plan and we are succeeding admirably thanks to our great (and hard-working) Moderators and Members :S3:.

[Ken Childs]

Jerry, the light looks good and the DOF captured is surprising at f/4.2. The wing patterns look really nice! If the dragon had been showing it's bright colors this might have worked better but since the red is mostly hidden, this little dragon is getting lost in the large frame. If you have the pixels for a large crop, I think a vertical with just the dragon and the grass it's perched on might be the way to go. Another option would be a CW rotation and then a horizontal crop with the dragon near the UR ROT position. This would be my preferred crop but this is very subjective.

Congrats on reaching 1,000 posts! :cheers:

[Jerry van Dijk]

Thanks Ken, also for contributing to the BPN experience and my development as a photographer. Here's the crop you suggested, which solves most of the comments given. I also did a curves adjustment, to slightly lighten up the image like Julie suggested. This is a stronger, more graphic image, which wasn't what I had in mind, but which works very well.

[Ken Childs]

Looks good! :S3:

[OvidiuCavasdan]

Repost looks much better to me!