I thought I'd post this behavioral shot as a followup to John's backswimmer image. Backswimmers are predators (as are many other aquatic invertebrates) and this one is preying on a dragonfly nymph that is larger than itself. It has its beak jabbed in the back of the dragonfly and the bite (I assume they inject digestive enzymes) apparently quickly immobilizes the prey. (In my files, I also have shots of dragonfly nymphs eating backswimmers. I think in many cases it's a matter of who bites whom first.) 40D, 100 mm macro, 1/250, f/16, ISO 100, 2.5 gal aquarium setup, MT24-EX macro twin flash (diffused), tripod, manual focus. I removed the floating bits of debris in the water that were illuminated by the flash. All comments are welcome and appreciated.
Nice one Steve
Not sure about the crop to be honest but subject fine.
Imagine how I felt when about a dozen of these spiked my leg whilst I was cleaning a neighbours pond out. They prick a bit!!
Cheers
John
Very cool to see the size of the prey these critters are able to handle (although this dragonfly larva is still probably nothing compared to Johns legs ). I'd light up the shadows a bit to balance them with the bright light on the head of the backswimmer and show some more detail on the dragonfly larva.
Thanks for the comments John, Jerry, and Jon! This image is about 3 years old so I don't recall my thought process when it came to cropping. I typically crop to fit the subject material rather than using a set ratio - though I can see how some alternate crops would be an improvement in this case.
Backswimmer and prey
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). I'd light up the shadows a bit to balance them with the bright light on the head of the backswimmer and show some more detail on the dragonfly larva.
