Exuvia of the Common blue damselfly

[Jonathan Ashton]

Camera Model Canon EOS 50D
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/15
Av( Aperture Value ) 9.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation +1/3
ISO Speed 100
Lens EF180mm f/3.5L Macro USM
Flash Off
White Balance Mode Auto
AF Mode One-Shot AF
AF Microadjustment 0
Color Space Adobe RGB

I thought this may prove of interest, this is the exuvia or larval case of one of the damselflies that recently emerged from my garden pond. The shot I want of course is the damsel emerging from the exuvia.

All C & C welcome

[Jim Bridges]

The detail is wonderful...I've never seen one of these, thanks for posting it!

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jonathan. This is beautifully done with excellent detail on the exuvia! I like the flow of the green leaves (the brown one seems a bit out of place for the overall "mood" of the image and is drawing my eye- you might consider cropping tighter on that side). There are several sensor dust spots on the left side of the image. A couple minor tweaks will make this strong image even better! :S3:

[Ken Childs]

Another winner, Jon! The lighting, colors and detail all look very good. I agree with Steve about cropping just enough to remove the brown stem.....this will also move the subject out of the center. You might also consider cropping a small amount from the top and cloning out the partial leaf in the LLC. I like the idea of keeping just the 3 main leaves.

I bet you're glad you built the pond. :S3:

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks very much for the feedback - I always value your comments. The orange stem I lingered over and I tend to get my mind in a particular frame for several months and then it changes again! I understand why you suggest lose the orange stem but I deliberately left it in, having said that I agree it would look good without. At present I am going through my "keep it as near as possible to as it was phase", but I have no doubt I will recrop and compose as you suggest if I put this one in a club competition.