I was taken by the colors as this female Fragile Forktail (Ischnura posita) enjoyed her lunch on this
lily petal. I like the tension of how far off center she is in the original post, but find the stamen a bit distracting. The 8.5 x 11 crop removes most of the stamen, which reduces their impact, but also reduces the off center tension…
7D2, 100-400 IS II @ 400, 1/60 s, f/16, iso 200, tripod
A nice look at the female Fragile Forktail in it’s environment, Mark. I think I prefer the second one best too, and for the same reasons. The BG is a bit busier than I would normally like, but we are getting to see her in her environment, which appears to not be all of nature. We have moved into the “neighborhood” of a lot of critters. Nice details and colors in her and the pedal of the flower she is on.
Mark, pretty amazing how our eyes and mind can change so much with such a small change as a crop. But, there it is. I too like the second version as it places more emphasis on the forktail in the scene. This is really nice for that small critter feature being included and should make a really neat print I would think…
Love both pictures for different reasons. The pink flower and contrasting colors are what me to looking closely at this photo. The Fragile Forktail was the “easter-egg” surprise that was my reward.
With #1 my eyes were drawn upward as the colors became warmer - but I still took in the forktail - just not as the focal point. I totally love the photo and the cool and warm tension.
For me, #2 just does not have the same impact. If you had more Flower petals on the left, you might have been able to “frame” the Forktail within the petals…
Overall, amazing capture.
Mark: Both shots are wonderful but I do prefer the original. It makes the forktail a complementary element to the flower rather than the main subject which was apparently not your intent but still seems to work better for me.>=))>
@Bill_Fach, my thinking when I shot this was that the Forktail would be a bit of a surprise in a colorful view.
