This is an informal name for dragonflies like this one, Rhyothemis fuliginosa, which is at its peak at the moment in Korea. It flaps its wings strongly and can fly up to the treetops to roost. The best place to find it is at ponds with plenty of aquatic plants. What I really like is its varying amount of Thin Film Interference iridescence. It is great fun to align the lens with the ever-shifting blades of the insect’s wings, as it rests for a while on a perch. Each individual has a unique wing-scale patterning and therefore a unique reflective colouring. This was one of the jazzier ones.
Specific Feedback Requested
All comments welcome.
Technical Details
D500 + Tamron 150-600mm @600mm 1/800 f16 ISO 3200
Topaz Denoise, and Levels, Shadows, Highlights in PS. Topaz Sharpen. Uncropped.
Mike, what a beautiful butterfly! I never saw anything like it here in the US. Just gorgeous. You really captured the details so nicely. I am really enjoying this. I can’t think of a thing to improve the image.
Wow Mike, a stunning dragonfly! Great for you to know the behavior and capture it so well. Fine details throughout and the color/iridescence is superb. I could see cropping a tad off the right to even up the spacing but that is a nit. Well done!
Mike, the iridescence is wonderful, as is the pose and your framing. It looks like it’s missing a leg, until you look close and see a leg is up against the eye. As a very minor nit, there’s a bit of haloing around the rear of the abdomen. That might be overuse of clarity or some dodging of that dark abdomen. If it’s dodging, a smaller brush would help. If it’s clarity and you don’t want to turn the clarity down, you can burn the halo in using an L2 luminosity mask and a tiny brush.
Thanks, @Mark_Seaver for your eagle eyes. I think I’ve removed the haloing. I usually apply clarity without thinking - now I’ll be more careful. I had no idea it could have this effect. Revised version above.
