The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Last summer, the garden was alive with flowers and insects. As someone who loves capturing close-up moments in nature, I felt fortunate that this little dragonfly paused long enough for me to photograph it. I tend to photograph “in the moment,” knowing how fleeting and unpredictable nature can be. Through this image, I hoped to capture a sense of beauty, joy, and the quiet magic found in small moments.
Specific Feedback
As someone who hasn’t received a lot of formal critique, I’d really appreciate honest feedback on the composition, crop, focus, and overall feel of the image. I’d also love suggestions on anything that could make it stronger or more visually engaging.
Technical Details
Shot with Z50 II, F11, 1/250, 300mm, ISO 3200
Processed with Luminar Neo, cropping, normal processing and removal of blurred part of a flower in the right upper corner.
Thank you all for the thoughtful feedback and warm welcome. I went back to the RAW file and reworked the processing with a lighter touch — especially reducing sharpening/processing artifacts in the wings and flowers, softening the magentas a bit, and giving the eyes a little more attention. I really appreciate all the helpful observations and suggestions. They definitely improved the image and taught me a lot in the process.
Joyce, this is a good look at this female Blue Dasher dragonfly. Her colorful perch adds well to the view. Your choice of crop and framing also look good. When I look at the largest view, I see that here eyes are not totally sharp. In most insect shots, having totally sharp eyes is considered very important. Several of the flowers have extra white lines along their outside edges. I don’t think that’s real, but I also don’t have any idea where it might come from. If you look at the original (hopefully RAW) file do you see those? I also enjoy finding that small green insect at the bottom of the flower. Overall a fun and joyful summer shot.
Joyce, welcome to NPN!! You have a very nice introductory image! Excellent subject and composition! The colors are wonderful with analogous magentas, blues and greens, and the background, which could have been busy, is very pleasantly out of focus (OOF) with no blown highlights or crushed blacks.
Looking at small details, it looks like focus may have been on the thorax instead of the eyes, but you have a generally good depth of field (DOF). The areas @Mark_Seaver mentioned feel like processing issues, as does the detail in the wings. In my experience, dragonfly wings rarely process cleanly. I don’t know Luminar but maybe there is a bit of over-processing here in terms of maybe noise reduction and sharpening? If you can give more details you could get better answers. Different lenses can create different artifacts, too, so knowing the lens might help.
From my experience, sharpening is a very tricky thing and usually creates more problems than it solves.
Looking forward to your participation here!! This is the best place to learn!
First Joyce, let me add my voice to Diane’s in welcoming you among us. What strikes you first in this image is the light falling on the subject and lifting it off that dissolved background. The head on framing is another win, because it lets us feast on those magnificent wings spread out in perfect symmetry. The dragonfly’s posture tells a story of tension too. Something is about to happen. Will she take flight, or will she devour the tiny green insect sharing her perch. We are watching that brief fragile lull right before the action.
The image also speaks of summer. It tells of warmth and light and joy. The flower and the background offer opposing colors that are a small feast for the eyes. Speaking of eyes, those two little white reflections on your model’s are sadly unavoidable given the lighting conditions.
Now a few tips for your future safaris in the garden. You mention fleeting moments and quick reactions, and it is true that dragonflies do not linger long on the same perch. However, they are creatures of habit with their own little preferences. More often than not they come back to the very same spot again and again, unless your sudden repeated movements have made the neighborhood feel unwelcome. So a good strategy is to spot the landing zone, compose for the background, and wait for your model to grace you with her presence. By staying fairly still you quickly become part of the scenery, and the insect will go about her business without paying you any mind. All the easier since with a 300mm you must be at least a meter away from her.
Thank you for sharing this image as a teaser announcing the beautiful days ahead. Here in Paris it has rained all week. Your photo is a welcome ray of sunshine making up for a sky too gray and a light gone dim.
A very nice improvement and an excellent example of how a lighter touch with processing can suit an image so well. My two favorite tools with Photoshop are the ability to zoom in to 100%, and to turn layers on and off to see the effects of adjustments.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful feedback! Funny thing is I haven’t a clue about Photoshop. Never learned it. I use Luminar Neo which is very similar to LR with some apparent features like that of PS. I am able to look at the different changes to see how they look as I process so thank you reminding me of that!
Again, thank you!!
Welcome to NPN, Joyce. This is a very nice image of the dragonfly and as mentioned by others the setting suits it very well. The minor nits have been mentioned by others and I second Sebastien’s suggestion of sitting (or standing) still and waiting. Though my usual targets are birds, it works with lots of critters. Evolution figured out the value of habits very early.
Thank you Dennis! Hopefully you saw my rework that I posted on this thread earlier I appreciate everyone’s comments and look forward to learning more from this site and members like you!
Joyce: I’m really tardy in offering my welcome and thanks for a fine first post. Everyone has pretty much beaten me to the punch regarding the technical issues of your capture and processing. @sebastien-maloron took the words out of my mouth regarding sitting and waiting on dragonflies to return to a particular perch. I used to chase them around and get frustrated that as soon as I would approach they would take off. A longer lens would help but patience was so much more effective. OTOH, butterflies are rarely territorial and tend to flit from perch to perch seeking new sources of pollen and nectar whereas dragonflies are predators and may seek spots where they can observe their territory and potential prey.
I do primarily use Lightroom and Photoshop but do occasionally utilize Luminar Neo and DxO Pure Raw. Your rework is a nice improvement and I commend you for accepting and acting on the counsel of others. Great to have you aboard and looking forward to your participation in the community. >=))>
Welcome to NPN, Joyce. I like that you captured the dragonfly head on and the detail is great. Nice light as well and I like what you did on the repost.
I appreciate everyone’s comments and look forward to learning more from this site and members like you!