Dragonfly on the edge

Image Critiques Macro/Close-up Critiques
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Dragonfly on the edge
Dragonfly on the edge1500×1000 104 KB

While in California there is a lot more activity than the desert of Tucson at 300 degrees. I found this little one in a position I do not see often. Very bright day

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Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Canon 6D ii ,Canon 100-400 ii (no close up filter) with the 1.4x extender. ISO 400 f/14 1/500. To prevent too much light I will bracket minus one or two stops to get the shutter speed up. This is much faster than adjusting the ISO down. I did a bit in photoshop to dim the abdomen a bit and the white stick. It was not that bright but I wanted the shadows to come out more.

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Sweet shot and what colors! The eyes and the body, both. Alas the book I have is for the Great Lakes region so I can’t help with an ID, but I believe the behavior is called stilting and is used in heat regulation.

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Nice pose, nice perch, and a good background for viewing the capture. Good work, Dean. Btw, I downloaded this and dropped it into iNaturalist for an ID. They say it’s a dragonfly. You’re welcome…

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Very nice image of this beautiful Dragonfly, Dean. The background really makes him stand out nicely. Yes, I think @Kris_Smith was right, that this position is for cooling themselves. Very nice sharpness all the way through on him and the perch.

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Thanks @Shirley_Freeman , @terryb , and @Kris_Smith . Thanks Kris on the cooling he is doing, it was only 104 that day. California heatwave

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You’re welcome, Dean - more weird dragonfly info - I’ve read that they also use the heat of the sun to warm up their flight muscles which are all right there in the shoulders - they sit and angle themselves for the best temperature to get back to flying. That’s why when I haul one out of the water I try to get it to the sun if I can.

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I like the pose, sort of like getting into a racers starting blocks. Nice bg and really nice detail and color in the dragon fly.

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Dean: You caught a great pose, perch and BG. Superb combo of conditions and skill. Most excellent. >=))>

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Lovely capture! This is a Blue Dasher, male, one of the smaller dragonflies. The coloring is a bit on the dark side, for accuracy. I find the composition too visually weighted on the right for my taste and would consider cropping some off the left, where nothing is balancing things.

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Thanks everyone, that helps a lot. I did darken the abdomen a little because it was in the bright sun light so I can fix that. I wondered about cropping the left side a bit. So I will post a update. Thanks