Large red damselfly

Here is a photo from last weekend. I took the opportunity to do some macro photography at my local nature reserve, since the weather improved from the constant deluge.

Here is a male large red damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula). Taken with a Canon 7D, EF 100mm f/2.8L IS macro USM lens, Canon 430 EX II flashgun on hotshoe and an apollo diffuser. ISO 400, f/22, 1/250 sec, fullframe. Imported with ACR and processed in CS5.

I hope this looks reasonable as I'm experimenting with a new processing workflow. C & c's would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Paul.

Lovely colored Damselfly Paul and the details look good.
Perhaps you could lighten up the darker parts of the image on the RHS a bit.

greetings,

Jeroen Stel

They are not easy and never seem to perch in a photogenic position... Your technique is good, however I would move the flash of the hotshoe... a bracket will give you the opportunity to get the 'diffused flash closer and in a position to give more 'modeling'. Also at f22 diffraction is going to be having quite a large impact on a highish resolution APS-C sensor, not as much as some will make out but still something to bare in mind... f11 should be good, f16 maybe...

Keep them coming, I enjoy all images of damsels and dragons...

Hi Paul looks good to me.
Sure its not a large red ?
You must have had some weather where you are. Ive not seen one yet.
JR

Having just seen John's comment... I think he is right and this is a large red Paul...

Best wishes

Thanks John and Phil your right, I'm still learning to identify insects, so many to remember! Yes, we have had lots and lots of rain and then a very sunny spell which brought them out. I've got a few more pictures of other species of damselfly on the same day. Thanks Phil, I've got a flash bracket but keep forgetting to pack it when I go out...... I'll have to tape it to the macro lens so I remember it next time! I'll do some experimentation around f11-16, that would explain some softness I'm seeing in some shots. I can't remember why I opted for f/22! Thanks Jeroen, I've lightened the darker areas to the right using a curve in the lightness channel in LAB mode. I've added it to this post.

Thanks.

Second image looks much better, very nice
Rene de Heer

Paul

Second image too you're producing just what I'm striving to accomplish thanks for sharing with the additional input from Phil the information is really so helpful. Just need to put it into practice. So far this year I haven't seen any Damselflies' weather improving this week.

that's nice Paul, I prefer the repost. Generally I prefer to see them from the side rather than from above but I realise this isn't always possible.

Matt

A splendid well detailed image Phil, I would be delighted with that.

Thanks everyone for the comments. I agree Matt, they look much better from a lower POV, but I was lazy and didn't get to the nature reserve until 10am, so they were very active and I took what I could. I'll be buying an angle viewfinder soon, hopefully that will make getting a good POV much easier. And I must work on getting up earlier on weekends! Barry, thanks for your comment, keep taking those macro shots!