Right on schedule, the dragonflies have stormed the beachhead that is my backyard and my sliver of riverbank. I thought it might be too cold (it was 32 F a couple of days ago in the morning), but they made it. I sat on the dock for a few hours and watched the spectacle. It’s difficult to concentrate on any one of them for long, but I noticed this one getting swamped by repeated little waves and so gave it a lift with this stick which meant I could put it almost anywhere. The background is my lawn. It was a little breezy, but manageable. I think this is a Black-shouldered spiny-leg since we have a lot of these. Two other species were emerging today, mostly these & Cobra clubtails. Dozens and dozens just on my shoreline. By tomorrow the skies will be full!
Specific Feedback Requested
Anything is good. I’ll probably be out there again tomorrow morning and can try again, weather permitting.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Lumix G9
P/L 100-400 f/4-6.3 @ 300mm (600mm equiv.)
f/8 | 1/200 sec | ISO 400
Handheld
Lr processed for general tones & clarity, a bit of a crop, sharpening & nr. Ps to get rid of spots on the lens.
Thanks @Bill_Fach - I fear we lost many with yesterday’s late thunderstorm. It was small and moved quickly, but had hail and intense rain for a while. I’ll head in the yard and check later. Ah nature, you are merciless.
Kris, the DF looks very good, nice and sharp. Interestingly, there’s been a significant increase in dragonfly (and damselfly) species here in MD over the last 3 - 4 days also.
Very nice, Kirs. I saw this last evening, but I was getting ready to shut the computer down and call it a night. I figured I would be able to think better and make a more sensible comment. Sorry about that.
I really love the nice smooth background that lets the DF and it’s perch stand out so nicely. You captured very nice details in the DF. Love those wings. I sure hope that the hail didn’t hurt these little guys. I really enjoy watching them in our yard and flower garden. We have had at least as many as usual of DF, but the Damselfly has been more than usual, and a variation in colors. That might mean I am paying closer attention and looking for them more so than before, because I have seen some.
Anyway, a well presented portrait of this Dragonfly.
Lucky you, Kris, to have so many of these little fellows in your backyard. Hopefully they will still be around today. The detail you’ve captured is fantastic. The OOF background works very nicely in emphasizing the dragonfly. Very nicely seen and captured.
Thanks @Mark_Seaver, @Shirley_Freeman & @linda_mellor - That I could move the stick was key to making this image. They don’t readily pose so nicely and the riverbank is really dense with plants. I have a few series of some emerging on rocks that are cleaner in terms of background and general messiness. Maybe I’ll post that to the Changes weekly theme!
Yesterday was definitely the day. A few stragglers coming up to transform today, but NOTHING like the numbers yesterday. There were some casualties overnight - larvae that crawled up, but died before they could emerge, some damaged wings on some (they won’t make it) and a few in the process of emerging when tragedy struck. But that’s how it goes.
A wonderful find, well photographed! I hope you get many more opportunities for them! My only thought would be to tone down the greens just a little – the color is striking but that competes with the subject a bit.
Nicely sharp and colorful. You were able to get the dragonfly in the plane of focus. Try a vertical crop with less of the stick. I would try that type of crop too…Jim
Thanks so much @Diane_Miller & @Jim_Zablotny - I sat with them again yesterday and there were more than the day before so I have a few additional ones I’m working on. Mostly individuals fished out of precarious situations with that same stick. Very handy for both of us!
I toned down the greens a bit (desaturated & dimmed) and went with the more usual vertical crop. I hesitated to do it because it was the ‘go-to’ for this kind of thing and I was experimenting with leaving a wider space to imply imminent freedom on the wing. Does that little bit of bright grass at the top still do that or should tone it down more??
Beautiful portrait! And that must be so cool to be surrounded by dragonflies! I would love that because then I would get a lot of practice catching them flying! I’ll be watching for some flight shots from you!
I like the vertical, but then I’m always looking for the portrait approach more than the behavioral. An alternative for the original crop is to take a little off the right and tone down the bright OOF part of the stick. Nik Viveza does an amazing job of selecting an area like that. First do the adjustment on the stick, and it will also darken the areas around it. Then place several dots with no adjustment on those darkened areas to return them to their previous state.
Rework is excellent. I do prefer the cropped version better than the first because the OOF portion of the stick is less emphasized than in the original…Jim
