The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Seems like forever since I’ve had anything to post here. Our garden usually attracts a fair number of dragonflies and this year I’ve been hunting them with little success. They either fly away before I can get close enough for a shot or land on some lame perch. Caught this Green Darner early this morning hanging around some of our azaleas. The perch isn’t great but I did like the BG and the light softened for just a few seconds. I just recently traded in my 70-200 for the upgraded mark II version. I had a hard time justifying the extra $$$ until I got the lens and started using it. This is a handheld shot and the significantly lighter weight and enhanced stabilization and faster AF were noticeable. Also had the 2x converter onboard which made its performance even more impressive.
Specific Feedback
Might have liked to have a touch more DOF on the wings but I was most concerned with the head and eyes.
Technical Details
Sony A7RIII
Sony 70-200 GM II @ 200mm + 2x TC
ISO 1600, 1/400 @ f11
Hey Bill nice to see you come in for a minute and congratulations on the new gear. Stabilization is so good these days and make once hard or impossible shots feasible. Good on the lighter weight, too, since waiting for these guys to show up is 1/2 of the work.
I like the strong X shape here and the focus is right where it should be on that marvelous face and shoulders. I just recently filmed a dragonfly warming up its wing muscles by vibrating the wings and it’s amazing what goes on when you see it that way. I even shot it at 180 fps so it’s very slow. Anyway…love the contrasting pink and orange, but am on the fence about the perch. Not that you can make these guys do anything you want. An enjoyable & engaging photo.
Bill, so good to have you back for a moment. I know your life is really busy now, but so glad that you were able to get out in the garden and capture this image this morning. I too love the BG with the orange and pink oof flowers. The DF is really beautiful and the greens in the BG compliment the green on him. Nice and sharp. Yes, it would have been nice if he had picked a better perch, but I haven’t learned how to convince them to do that for me either. Well done.
And congratulations on your new lens. It sounds like it will be a wonderful tool in your toolbox to get more shots like this. I have that lens in Canon, and it is super nice.
Hi Bill,
that looks beautiful. Great details in the Dragonfly.
And I’m glad you enjoy your new lens.
What are your experiences with the Sony teleconverter? I’m thinking about buying one too. But I have already read different experiences about it. Are you satisfied?
Hey, Bill. This dragonfly caught my eye even at the thumbnail size. Beautiful colors and I kinda like the perch; simple, but effective. Sharpness does drop off a bit in the wings and tail when viewed at the largest size, but that’s not unexpected. Congrats on the new lens; I’ve been saving up to buy the Canon version of that lens.
The BG colors nicely compliment the color of the DF.
The clarity and sharp focus on the head, thorax, leg parts that are near the thorax and even the central portion of the wings is great!
This image displays the front pair of legs nicely, this shows how they are like retractable mandibles of sorts because DFs use them in very similar ways, they are short enough to help rake food into their mouths and those legs go a bit further because they can use them to snatch flying prey out of mid-air if the prey comes close enough, and they are the primary tools for cleaning their heads after a meal.
They’re just fascinating to me. I may try to capture some slow motion video since we have a good population of them at a lake just a few hundred yards from my house.
The composition is perfect in my opinion, even the perch works very well for me.
