See description in first uncorrected post, please.
Specific Feedback Requested
Sometimes when photographing such subjects, there are three sources of motion involved: Yours if handheld, the plant the subject is on, and the subject itself. You make multiple captures to try to get “the one.” So, if subject placement or exact location is less than desirable, this might be taken into consideration. Finding my editing oversights is great. Expressing an opinion as to best way to render tonal densities is fine. Oversharpening, blown out highlights all a part of processing oversights, I suppose. Choice of lens, filling frame too tightly or not enough, depth of field unless deliberately limited for artistic effect…still, your opinion is fine. I am appreciative for what I have learnt so far and hope to apply it to further efforts!
Hi Kerry - did you mean to edit your original post? You can do that by using the pencil icon at the bottom. Then you can add another image so we can compare. I think I see some difference here, especially in the blue of the body, but it’s difficult to see changes with an entirely new post.
If you need any more help in making the changes, reach out to me or another moderator.
Looks like the two images weren’t showing up for me last night, so I apologize. Nice job brightening the dragonfly. I prefer the darker background, but overall it works well.
If you’re using Lightroom or Photoshop you can select use a select subject mask and invert it so that the background is selected. Then adding a color selection for blue should allow you to reduce the exposure for just that area. You could also play with the saturation slider once the selection is made. If you use Photoshop and the TK8 plugin this should be easy with those tools as well. If you need a walk through with either program, let me know. Masks can be fiddly if you’re not used to them.
Great capture Kerry and the deatils of the dragonfly are excellent. The lighting on the wings with the background came out well. I wondered what a square ratio would look like taking out some on the right side and get more focus the subject.
