The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I enjoy macro photography and was lucky enough to catch this Flame Skimmer in my backyard. Dragonflies are relatively easy to photograph as they tend to fly off of a branch and then back on to it, making it a bit easier to photograph.
Specific Feedback
I am primarily looking for feedback about the crop. I specfically left the orange branch below the Flame Skimmer as it seems to match his or her color. I think a tighter crop would work as well (I haven’t tried that yet) but I like the bokeh in this photo.
Technical Details
Nikon Z 6 and the Nikon Z 24mm-200mm lens, at 200mm.
F 6.3
SS 1/3200
ISO 2200
Sharpened a bit in Affinity Photo 2.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Dragonflies are fun to shoot but a head-on angle doesn’t show much of it. The branch could be an interesting secondary element but it is mostly OOF and cut off at the bottom. Maybe not physically possible but it would have been good to get an angle that included more of it and put it more in the focal plane of the DF, which might have shown more of its body and eliminated the distracting bokeh.
Dragonflies are such fun! The color here is astounding - so bright and rich. Since you ask about the crop, I’d have gone further for a couple reasons. First, the other branch is proportionally the same size as the dragonfly, so it competes overly for attention. Second that head-on photos of these guys really need to be close to be interesting. The eyes are so incredible when you see them in high-magnification detail. Given that the rest of the bug is obscured, I think we need to see much more to stay engaged. And as much as I like a nice shot full of bokeh balls, they seem a bit strong here, especially the brightest ones. Your call of course. It’s a fun shot and one that is full of life and energy.
Richard, I love dragonflies and really enjoy photographing them. As @Kris_Smith mentioned, when face on, to me it is all about the eyes, so getting in closer would have worked nicely. Sometimes they let me get in really close while I talk softly to them. Not sure they are paying that much attention to that but I do move just a tiny bit at the time, take a few shots and move a bit closer.
Nice find! Great colours! Head-on shots of these dragonflies are very tough - even with a very high F-stop, it’s very hard to get any DOF. From this angle, a close-up of the face is the only thing that works for me. and then one has to be very close.
Good suggestions from all the others that I won’t repeat. That bright BG, and especially the brightest orb, are very distracting from here.
I don’t mind all the out of focus highlights in the background, Richard, but agree with the others that a pretty tight crop would work better for this image, assuming you have sufficient pixels to pull it off.
Richard: I can see how you were attracted to all of the disparate elements in this shot and the attempt to include them all. It does work for me as is with the tighter crop suggestions offering other alternatives. Of the three main elements (dragonfly, bokeh and plant) the plant is the one I would sacrifice to get something like this.
Thank you all for your feedback. These guys are challenging (but fun) to photograph and I especially enjoy the fact that they are not at all camera shy.
