Red Dragon

I like the posture of the dragonfly and the comp of it posed on the single stalk. It looks like you have good focus on the left wings but it would be nice to have the face in better focus. Also the light looks a little harsh making the BG quite bright drawing attention away from your subject. Keep it up though I think these are very hard to photograph and I have tons of bad picture for every good one I take. A good time to photograph these is very early morning when their covered with dew. When their wing are wet they cant fly and they will set there and pose for you without moving until their dry.

Wonderful suggestions, thank you! This was an opportunistic shot and the light was incredibly harsh. I took this on Mayne Island while doing an eelgrass survey (and was therefore in a huge rush) having never seen bright red dragonflys before I wanted to try to get a few shots. I believe they are a Japanese species? Anyways, thanks again

Nice capture of this colorful DF, Sarah. The detail / focus looks ok to me and you have already pointed out the nature of the BG. What camera / lens did you use, at what exposure settings? If shooting from a distance with a telephoto lens you can get by with a wider aperature that will help blur the BG.

Hi Sarah,
Careful, dragons can get addicting!
John made some good suggestions. I'll second the early morning tip. especially when it's cool. (mid 50's). I also try and stay in the shade as it will extend my time I get with the dragons and give me better light to photograph.