Posted by Andy Shepherd on November 11, 2006 at 3:46 PM
Hi to all,
This is my first post on the forum , this Large Red Damselfly had just emerged and was warming up in the morning sun , unfortunately it started to rain as you can see from the small circular spots on the image ( still learning how to clone ), the rain probably lead to its demise , taken at Potteric Carr Nature Reserve in late May.
All comments and advice most welcome
Regards
Andy...
Canon 20D , Sigma 180mm , Tripod and r-release
1/4 at f11
at 180mm
Posted by Vincent Jones on November 11, 2006 at 3:51 PM
Welcome Andrew, this is a very nice first post to start with & an image to be pleased with. I look forward to seeing more of your work.
Vince
Looking at the spots, are you it's rain & not dust on the sensor?
Hi Andrew
Great first post. As Vince says its an image to be pleased with.
Did you stay with it through the whole emergance?
Cheers
SteveHL
Posted by Dave Courtenay on November 11, 2006 at 5:17 PM
Hi Andrew
That certainly is a newly formed damselfly,probably the youngest i have seen,a tad more usm and clone the specks,look forward to more
Posted by Andy Shepherd on November 11, 2006 at 5:32 PM
Hi Vince,
Yes its rain , I got soaked.
Hi Steve,
I started shooting as it climbed out of its exuvia , I've included a shot as it emerged from exuvia , but it has a very shallow DOF ( still on a learning curve )
Regards
Andy...
Posted by Larry Corbett on November 11, 2006 at 5:51 PM
Hi Andrew
I love the soft light in the first image, but unfortunately the stone to the right of the damsels eye leads my eye strait to it and is too distracting, but the second image is spot on for me.
DOF is always a problem in close up images especially if the creature is on the move , but IMHO you have handled it well.
if you are worried about your DOF, next time try the whole set of fstops from f8 through to f22 and see what works best for you, for the static image at the top you could have got away with f16 which would have bought the bottom of the damsel in to focus, but would have shown those dots up even more. Macro photography is all about compromise sometimes..what works best for you wins at the end of the day!
Posted by Andrew Forsyth on November 12, 2006 at 4:51 AM
Hi Andy,
a promising first (and second) post. I prefer the second shot, with the angle of view being the main reason (the stone in the first one does create a block of distracting space IMO) and the bonus of the larval case adding interest.
Re the spots - I'd question whether these are rain drops. At 1/4 second you won't find them hanging in the air, and on the lens they'd be much more out of focus (probably invisible). The fact that they are all similar in size and tone suggest dust on the sensor. Have you perfected cloning for your second shot or did you have a very dusty change of lenses between the two??
A
Posted by John Gardner on November 12, 2006 at 5:10 AM
Both excellent images thought the first one could take some cropping to lessen the impact of the OOF stone. Excellent work.
John
Posted by Philip Kirkham on November 12, 2006 at 5:54 AM
Hello Andrew
Very nice first posts, and interesting to see the emergence. Good advice from John re the stone, too.
Keep them coming.
Best wishes
Phil
Posted by Andy Shepherd on November 12, 2006 at 12:56 PM
Hi Andrew F,
I used the same lense from start to finish without any lense changes in between , thats why
I think the spots are rain drops , the second image of the damselfly emerging from the exuvia
was taken 60 min before the first image , if it were dust I would have thought the spots would be showing on the second image and as you can see from the first image I havn't learned to clone with any success yet.
Thanks to all for the advice
Regards
Andy...
Posted by Tim Munsey on November 12, 2006 at 3:35 PM
Hi Andrew,
Nice first post, I've yet to see a dragonfly emergence, they remind me of the Alien flim series, scary stuff. A bit hot but I bet you can recover a bit more detail using your raw convertor.
Great to see this behaviour, often difficult to find as many emerge in the dark.... on the first image I would certainly reduce the exposure a bit and crop in as the perch isn't too complimentary of the specimen. The second is my favourite though and is well caught, OK there are faults, such as lack of DoF, but this game is all a vast learning curve and I am sure that when you come across this again you will be more than well prepared.
Discussion
11 repliesThis is my first post on the forum , this Large Red Damselfly had just emerged and was warming up in the morning sun , unfortunately it started to rain as you can see from the small circular spots on the image ( still learning how to clone ), the rain probably lead to its demise , taken at Potteric Carr Nature Reserve in late May.
All comments and advice most welcome
Regards
Andy...
Canon 20D , Sigma 180mm , Tripod and r-release
1/4 at f11
at 180mm
Vince
Looking at the spots, are you it's rain & not dust on the sensor?
Great first post. As Vince says its an image to be pleased with.
Did you stay with it through the whole emergance?
Cheers
SteveHL
That certainly is a newly formed damselfly,probably the youngest i have seen,a tad more usm and clone the specks,look forward to more
Yes its rain , I got soaked.
Hi Steve,
I started shooting as it climbed out of its exuvia , I've included a shot as it emerged from exuvia , but it has a very shallow DOF ( still on a learning curve )
Regards
Andy...
I love the soft light in the first image, but unfortunately the stone to the right of the damsels eye leads my eye strait to it and is too distracting, but the second image is spot on for me.
DOF is always a problem in close up images especially if the creature is on the move , but IMHO you have handled it well.
if you are worried about your DOF, next time try the whole set of fstops from f8 through to f22 and see what works best for you, for the static image at the top you could have got away with f16 which would have bought the bottom of the damsel in to focus, but would have shown those dots up even more. Macro photography is all about compromise sometimes..what works best for you wins at the end of the day!
a promising first (and second) post. I prefer the second shot, with the angle of view being the main reason (the stone in the first one does create a block of distracting space IMO) and the bonus of the larval case adding interest.
Re the spots - I'd question whether these are rain drops. At 1/4 second you won't find them hanging in the air, and on the lens they'd be much more out of focus (probably invisible). The fact that they are all similar in size and tone suggest dust on the sensor. Have you perfected cloning for your second shot or did you have a very dusty change of lenses between the two??
A
John
Very nice first posts, and interesting to see the emergence. Good advice from John re the stone, too.
Keep them coming.
Best wishes
Phil
I used the same lense from start to finish without any lense changes in between , thats why
I think the spots are rain drops , the second image of the damselfly emerging from the exuvia
was taken 60 min before the first image , if it were dust I would have thought the spots would be showing on the second image and as you can see from the first image I havn't learned to clone with any success yet.
Thanks to all for the advice
Regards
Andy...
Nice first post, I've yet to see a dragonfly emergence, they remind me of the Alien flim series, scary stuff. A bit hot but I bet you can recover a bit more detail using your raw convertor.
Tim