Black-Tailed Skimmer in the rain

On a recent wet day I was surprised to find this male Black-Tailed Skimmer in my garden, not a species that I've ever seen in my garden before. It was actually raining while I took these shots, which at least proved that the 400D and Sigma 150 are more waterproof than I thought.

Canon 400D with Sigma 150mm lens.

f13, 1/20 sec, ISO 400, tripod.

All C+C appreciated.

Very nicely done, a little tight in the frame for me but the detail, where it counts is superb. Well done for braving the elements, it's worked nicely. I'm never sure when people are using sprayers to get this effect so it's nice that you have been out in the rain..!

Kind regards

Brett

thanks Brett, definitely no sprayers here I intentionally cropped it slightly to make it larger in the frame because the detail in the water droplets seemed to be lost otherwise on a 720 pixel image. But I'm inclined to agree that it does now look a bit tight in the frame

Matt

Hello Matt.

Excellent detail and I know what you mean about the detail getting lost in the low res images.

Good choice of angle for the shot showing all the body with out the wings getting in the way.

I have spent a lot of mornings this year looking for one of these and no luck. And you get one in the garden.

Nice one.

Hi Matt,

Very good indeed. looks like it's just climbed out of the freezer!! Amazing effect being covered in water droplets. Maybe a bit tight but certainly does not bother me that much.

Nice shot

Regards

Rob

Superbly detailed shot Matt and the BG is very nice too

Andy...

Tight yes, but understand why you cropped in closer, although you have no control over it I'm not overly fond of the perch.... but great to get this in your garden...

many thanks for the comments.

Matt

Another one of these shots that is almost wasted at 720 pixels. I bet it's fantastic at full res.
Nice one Matt.
Eric