Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I encountered this female Western Pondhawk buried in some pond-side vegetation. It’s getting pretty warm in the Sonora Desert now (100° at that moment), and my best guess is that this dragonfly was sheltering from the sun. Many dragonfly and damselfly species start to thermoregulate at temperatures above 95°.
OM System OM-1 Mk 2, Postprocessing in Affinity Photo 2
Specific Feedback
I am interested in all of your comments.
Technical Details
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
- Vision and Purpose:
- Conceptual:
- Emotional Impact and Mood:
- Composition:
- Balance and Visual Weight:
- Depth and Dimension:
- Color:
- Lighting:
- Processing:
- Technical:
1 Like
Beautiful job on the dragonfly, Russ, and she chose a great perch for you. Detail and composition are excellent.
Russ, this is gorgeous. Fine detail, colours, and perch. Excellent look at the face.
Great work!
A nice find, Russ, and he posed for you nicely. You captured some nice details by using f16 to get so much DOF. Well done.
Russ: Kudos to you for this one. Good pose, good BG, good perch, good DOF, etc. Marvelous capture. >=))>
Terrific composition showing wingspan and the face which is so sharp!
Nice image of this dragonfly Russell. Looks like the head, body and wings are all sharp and in focus. Did you do any focus stacking?
Hi Ted. I didn’t do any focus stacking. I guess the F 16 aperture created just enough depth of field for the whole animal.
Russell,
Nice work. I like the contrast between the sharpness of the dragonfly and the softness of the background. So do dragonflies become immobile when thermoregulating?
Hi Youssef. Dragonflies have several behaviors when they are thermoregulating. One of them is to move into the shade and remain immobile. Another is to rotate their abdomens up or down so that they are in line with the sun, thus minimizing the surface area exposed to the sun.
Many dragonflies are very active when the temperature is between 85° and 95°. When the temperature rises above 95°, the same dragonflies will seek shelter from the sun. That’s a good time for dragonfly photographers to find some fairly rare specimens. Here in the Sonora Desert, dedicated photographers will be on the hunt in temperatures as high as 106° and more. That’s true dedication!
I’m late here but have to add my congrats for a very lovely capture and a well-deserved EP! You captured wonderful detail with the needed DOF. The green BG is just right to show off its color.
