The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
About This Image
On a trek to chase Dragons and Damsels, this, what I believe is a royal River Cruiser, flew in and landed about 8 feet from me. As most of the river cruisers do, it was hanging from it perch, in this case a vine. By moving in slowly, I was able to get this close-up view, emphasizing it’s wonderful eyes. In looking at other web photos, that bit of blue on it’s abdomen shows quite often, leaving me wondering if it’s color in the body or a reflection from the eyes.
Feedback Requested
I tried a stack to get the wings sharp, but there was a steady breeze, so this single, nearly life size shot, emphasizing the eye is the best I could get.
Very nice capture of a very challenging subject. They eye color and detail are remarkable. It is also a very interesting perspective showing not just the eyes but some detail in the wings and other anatomical parts.
A great look at that eye, Mark. I might be tempted to crop it really close if you have the pixels. To me, this image is all about the eye and almost everything else is extraneous.
Mark: Certainly aptly titled and superbly captured. I like your comp and placement in the frame of the eyes. I kind of like the relatively wide angle and don’t think I’d crop much if any. I also like how you cropped the wings; enough to show it’s intentional and not a mistake. Top notch result.>=))>
Great colors and I’m glad that it perched and gave you an opportunity for this shot. The color of the eyes are amazing. I like the colors and texture of the prothorax which has that small amount of blue with some yellow. Processing looks good and I agree with other viewers that I do not think that a crop is necessary. Well done…Jim
Hi Mark, like everyone else I am wow’d by the color and pattern of the eyes. Remarkable. I also think this crop works as viewing the photo large let’s us really see the eye detail is desired. Nice capture!
“The blue patch on the face of the Royal River Cruiser dragonfly (just below the compound eyes) is primarily structural color, not simply a reflection.” Thank you ChatGPT! They continue:“the blue facial plate can look almost like polished enamel”. Mark, you have caught this effect in the front part of its right eye. You left singing “I’ll be Seeing You”, I’m sure! Very well taken. Now they’ve clarified ::
“Blue on the face (frons):* structural colour. Blue on the prothorax behind the head:* also primarily structural colour, not a simple reflection.”
