aka Calopteryx aequabilis. The second part of the scientific name may refer to the nearly half black wing. This boy returned to this perch again and again and lucky for me I was on hand, in a backwater I’ve never been able to get into before with normal water levels. What a treat waited for me - my first time photographing this species.
Feedback Requests
The perch while nice and isolated, is rather bright and I did my best to tone it down. Does our boy steal the show enough?
Pertinent Technical Details
Handheld w/CPL in the kayak, but in VERY shallow water with not much breeze.
Lr for basic edits including a crop, noise reduction and sharpening. Masking to tone down the brightness of the stick. Tweaked green hue to slightly cooler because he was almost blue to my eyes. Ps for some “removal” of a distraction in the back that was frustrating to do without it becoming overly splotchy, but I think I got it in the end.
I have been looking for this species and am never able to head North when adults are flying. Highlights and metallic coloration is handled very well. The BG and perch complement the subject nicely too. Very nice…Jim
Thanks @Gill_Vanderlip & @Jim_Zablotny - I think he was newly emerged and not quite so flighty as they can sometimes be. Now is the start of their big adult population boom so maybe you can get away and find some, Jim.
This is a fine catch on this damselfly, Kris. His colors show up well and the perch add interest without being a distraction. I wonder if his bent abdomen has any effect in the search for females…
Thanks @Mark_Seaver - I was so happy with his angle to the sun to make that color visible. You know how they are…one minute pow and the next, black. Funny about the bent abdomen, he only did that a few times. The rest of the shots have it either with the normal curve just below the wings, or up between them. He was opening and closing his claspers at the same time so might have been a warm up.
Kris: -meter spike for me on this one! What a beautiful critter and so superbly captured. The perch and BG are the perfect complements as well. Most excellent >=))>
Excellent capture!! And far prettier than any damsels I’ve ever seen. The perch is perfect and I don’t see any sign of masking. Hope to see more from your water adventures!
Gorgeous colors, Kris, even some nice muted tones in the wings too. A pixel-peeper might ask you to remove the two small BG circles (one above the abdomen, one much lower down)! A very compelling shot.
Thanks @Diane_Miller, @Bill_Fach & @Mike_Friel - I guess he is stealing the show enough. Phew. It was such a serendipitous moment that I was nervous that I’d come up with nothing. Took about a million shots, but this was the one.
-meter spike for me on this one! What a beautiful critter and so superbly captured. The perch and BG are the perfect complements as well. Most excellent 