What technical feedback would you like if any?
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What artistic feedback would you like if any?
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You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
f/5.6, 115 mm focal length (crop sensor), 1/500 s, ISO 2500
First of all, welcome to NPN, Gaurav. I hope you find this community to be everything it is meant to be. I know that I have sure enjoyed it for the past couple of years, and have learned so much from the other photographers here. You have accomplished something I have not been able to do yet, and that is to capture one of these fast little guys in flight, so kudus to you on that not so easy of a task. On my screen, it appears a bit dark. I would recommend raising the exposure a stop or two (not sure if you are using Lightroom or what program for editing your images), but just brighten up the image some. You have a really nice background to make him stand out. I am liking the composition really well. The perch that he seems to be heading to for landing, isn’t as pretty as we might like it, but that is the kind of places they like to go to, so it is a natural setting. If you want, after you have brightened up the image some, you can submit it again with this post (by clicking on the pencil), and just change the title to add “+ repost” to let others know that you have edited the image. Again, welcome, and looking forward to more of you images.
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Thank you, Shirley. I’m always excited when I get any insect in flight, because It’s never easy! I will add a couple of stops (I use GIMP) and take another look. I appreciate your suggestion very much.
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Yes, Gaurav, catching a dragonfly in flight is an accomplishment. His position in the frame is good. both the perch and the background look good also. You don’t give any of your camera settings, which makes suggesting changes difficult. The Dasher looks clean, but a bit soft, which has me thinking that your shutter speed was too slow to freeze the motion.
Your point is well taken. I was trying to avoid using a flash in this photo, because I love the natural light. However, given the light conditions, this might not have been the best choice for this case. This photo was taken at f/5.6, 115 mm focal length (crop sensor), 1/500 s, ISO 2500. There’s no doubt that it’s a pretty soft image, and I certainly wouldn’t print it out, at least at a larger size.
The f/5.6 was the faster limit of my zoom lens for this focal length. If I had cut the exposure time any further down, I would have had to increase the ISO, and it was already pretty grainy, I think. Next time, I should probably bite the bullet and use flash.
Thank you for your detailed response!
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Hi Gaurav,
I’ve taken a few dragonflies in flight photos and they are challenging. Shoot when you have more light. With flash as the main light source, you would have a photo with a black BG. So, you have to balance the flash power twith the available natural light. The BG is very nice and can’t wait for your future attempts at nabbing an in flight shot of the blue dasher…Jim
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