Pond skaters

[Jonathan Ashton]

Tripod Canon 50D canon 180mm macro ISO 100 1/25 sec f10

I have never seen pond skaters mating before, there is little in terms of courtship, in fact I would say it was rape really!
All C & C welcome.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Awesome moment captured here Jon! I have never seen it either but will have to look harder! A little bit too much space for me but that is subjective. I would like to see the green thing on the left evicted and then cropped down a bit left and top to take the action off center. This is an excellent job with an unusual find!

[Jerry van Dijk]

Very good capture of this behaviour, Jonathan. Those floating plants would make some interesting subjects in themselves too! I agree with Roman about the green thingy, and would also like some less space around the skaters because of the overpowering colors and shapes of the plants. I'd try a more panoramic crop, which adds to the elongated shape of the skaters.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Roman, Jerry your thoughts coincided with mine, in the end I decided not to crop any more as I did not want the image quality to denigrate too much, a little devilment made me leave the blade of plant material in, it does look a little distracting but hey it was there.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jonathan. An excellent behavioral image! On this side of the Atlantic, these would be called water striders. :S3: Good suggestions by Roman and Jerry. Overall, this is very well done, but a couple little tweaks would make it even stronger!

[Ken Childs]

Jon, Roman covered most of my thoughts so I wont repeat what he said. There is some nice detail hiding in the shadows on the female so you might try to bring up that area. The texture of those plants is awesome!!