Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Of course, this is not literally one insect. We have a male and female Common Green Darner flying in tandem. The male uses specialized claspers to physically lock into grooves behind the female’s head. The combo flies at the usual breakneck speed, executing hairpin turns perfectly. I’ve seen tandem flying many times, but I still shake my head at its precision.
The male controls navigation and flight direction, coordinating steering movements, elevation changes, and flight path decisions. The female maintains her basic wing functions to support flight, but the male goes to some fairly extreme measures to carry the weight, including increasing his wing beat frequency and adjusting the stroke amplitude. You can clearly see the differences between the male and female wing behaviors in the photograph.
What is this all about? The male improves its chances at reproductive success by guarding the female against rival males and guiding the female to the best places to lay eggs. Dragonflies have used this strategy for more than 300 million years. It must work.
Some brief shop talk about photography. Nothing is optimum when you capture these animals in flight. For example, this image had an ISO of 8,000. Yikes! My old self says, you can’t make pictures this way, and my new self says, with modern sensors and image processing software, you can.
Specific Feedback
I’m interested in all of your comments.
Technical Details
OM Systems OM-1 Mark II, Post-processing in Affinity Photo 2
1/5000, F9, ISO 8000, 150mm, no flash
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