‹ Previous Macro & Close-up Gallery Next ›

Rarely Seen

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted January 4, 2010181 views6 comments

Saw this male Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) while out on a hike today. While these DFs are very common in our area, seeing them in January is very uncommon. Actually, seeing any DF in January is kind of bizarre. Makes me wonder how hard they have to work to find a meal.

30D, 300mm f/4 + 1.4xTCII
ISO 100, 1/125s, f/11
Handheld

Aside from cloning out an OOF leaf in the ULHC and removing some dust spots this is straight out of the camera. I even resisted the urge to apply USM

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on January 4, 2010 at 5:38 AM

Hi Sam,
Happy New Year. This is a very nice comp and sharp enough without USM. Great perch and BG. Love this; good start to the new year.

Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments

Comment posted by Basil Greber on January 4, 2010 at 3:20 PM

Excellent capture. I like the angle, the pose, the subject, and that smooth and buttery background. Two nits: First, I might be tempted to crop it a bit more tightly. And second, I think you shouldn't have resisted the USM-urge.

While this is certainly a sharp shot, you lose some definition when you down-sample for web, and I think you should compensate that by a little bit of USM. It makes the shot pop even more than it does now.

Registered on November 8, 2005, 219 Posts, 1340 Comments

Comment posted by Joel DeYoung on January 4, 2010 at 4:53 PM

Well done Sam! Nice composition and colors. The clean background is wonderful.
I know what you mean by seeing a dragonfly in January. In my part of the country It would be bizarre indeed. This image makes me excited for summer and the bugs.

Registered on July 12, 2009, 92 Posts, 1074 Comments

Comment posted by Katja Rosvall on January 5, 2010 at 3:38 AM

I really like the modest colours and the bg. The abdomen looks transparent, like glass, and the details are great too. Fantastic capture!

Registered on August 16, 2009, 28 Posts, 636 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Moats on January 6, 2010 at 5:50 PM

Hey Sam, very cool metalic look in this guy. Good details and BG. Well done.

Registered on October 20, 2004, 892 Posts, 6324 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on September 1, 2011 at 11:35 AM

Excellent exposure, detail/DOF, and colors Sam, it's well composed..
Great complimentary BG, it's a clean machine too..in January no less

Well done!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments