Four Stroker
Critique Style Requested: Initial Reaction
Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.
Questions to guide your feedback
Shot from a moving boat going about the same speed as the two dragonflies, which surprisingly go quite quickly. These two were in mating formation. Should I have had the driver try to maneuver so I could get a more head-on shot or was my decision to shoot them in more of an action sequence the right course of action?
Other Information
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Image Description
Anyone who has shot dragonflies knows it “t’aint” as easy as it looks. I shoot a lot of propeller driven aircraft and the trick with them is to “pan” shoot at a lower shutter speed to blur the props. I often do the same with Dragonflies and Hummingbirds as it shows more control over the subject though that is personal preference not guidance to anyone else. The second submission is more of an emphasis on “prop blur.”
Technical Details
D800, 80-400 @400mm, f/8, 1/2500, ISO 800
ISO and shutter high because it was just after sunrise.
Standard ACR and in Photoshop a bit of cropping and debris removal. I used select by color range to isolate the darks parts of the body, then changed the exposure to give more detail and in TK, painted some contrast into the wings where they crossed the body.
Specific Feedback
Conceptual Feedback: This is by no means a “great shot,” but it was one of my first with a full frame camera and it opened up more possibilities than I ever imagined setting in motion a dedication to shooting wildlife. For me, capturing the essence of each critter in their natural environment chronicled my, now 12 years as a wildlife photographer, though due to essential tremors, now being more landscape and people.
Critique Template
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- Vision and Purpose:
- Conceptual:
- Emotional Impact and Mood:
- Composition:
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- Technical: