Dragonfly Portrait - Lancet Clubtail

[Allen Sparks]

Canon 40D, Sigma 150mm macro, Tamron Pro SP 1.4 teleconverter, Canon 580 EX II Flash
ISO 400, 1/200, f16, hand held, manual exposure mode

[Julie Brown]

Killer head shot, Allen! :D
Sharp eyes, and nice detail. That one leg that is cut off is the only issue for me.

[Indranil Sircar]

Excellent macro, Allen. Sharp and amazing details!

[Julie Kenward]

Super sharp and what a mug! I agree about that front leg being out of the frame, though...

There are also a few very small insignificant white dots on the leaf that, when blown up into a print, might become an issue for you. I'd do a little clone job before printing.

[Ken Childs]

Beauty shot, Allen!

I would also like to see the rest of that front leg and maybe some NR to smooth out some of the rough areas in the BG.

[Vida van der Walt]

Excellent detail in this Allen! Love the head on view and the leg is not a big issue to me.:)

[Markus Jais]

Great head portrait. Wonderful sharpness and details.
The cut leg is a minor nuisance but really just minor and I like the image as presented.

Markus

[Allen Sparks]

Thanks for the comments everyone! I was worried about cutting off the leg too when I took this shot but what I really wanted was a very up close head shot so I sacrificed the leg. I rarely get this up close to a dragonfly so I got as close as I could to maximize the face detail.

[Ken Childs]

Thanks for the comments everyone! I was worried about cutting off the leg too when I took this shot but what I really wanted was a very up close head shot so I sacrificed the leg. I rarely get this up close to a dragonfly so I got as close as I could to maximize the face detail.

Was this a teneral dragon?

[Allen Sparks]

Ken, no, not that I know of. the colors looked mature. I think this species is know for being unwary.

[Ken Childs]

Ken, no, not that I know of. the colors looked mature. I think this species is know for being unwary.

I was wondering because last year was the first time these were common on the farm so I don't have all that much experience with them but the only ones I got close to were teneral.

[Mike Moats]

Hey Allen, great in your face shot, the whole leg would be nice but by no means a deal breaker. Good details. Congrats.