<< Previous Next >>

You Knocked?


You Knocked?
Photo Information
Copyright: Hollie is an SLR novice (slrnovice2) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 331 W: 31 N: 344] (1197)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2005-04-02
Categories: Insects
Camera: Fuji Finepix S602Zoom
Exposure: f/4.5, 1/320 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2005-05-02 17:02
Viewed: 1326
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 28
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
A Large Red damselfly not looking particularly large or red at the moment! I have lots of shots of dragonflies emerging but this is my first of a damselfly coming into its wings. It's all Rob Brown's fault for asking if I'd got any shots of the ones I'd seen emerging ;)

Some background on Large Reds :)
Large Red damselflies vs Small Red damselflies -
LRs have black legs and broad stripes on their abdomen, SRs have red legs and their abdominal stripes are absent or very narrow. Apparently the lifespan of the mature adult is only around a week, 6 weeks being something of a record. I guess the beautiful little red star you see hovering around your wetland one week is not often the one you saw last week. Its breeding range extends most of northern Europe with smaller patches in southern Europe and its choice of breeding ground includes ponds, ditches, canals & acid bogs. The larvae are unusual in that they display territorial behaviour. Adult males are not big on courtship or romance but are territorial and possession of territory is nine tenths of the law when it comes to fighting off the rivals (and therefore winning the girl).

I used my Fuji for this shot because I haven't got a suitable lens for my Canon yet. This means I can't get real close without casting shadows on the insect having its photo taken. Any suggestions? I chose f4.5 to get the background blurred, I find it's always a compromise between covering the insect and blurring the background. This particular picture has been through NI, cropped, rotated and sharpened. Btw, will I be able to hand-hold my canon 100m macro lens (when it comes) do you think? These shots require you to hold your camera at peculiar angles sometimes!
milloup, marhowie, AndyB, PDP, sAner, hummingbird24, gerhardt, liziafa, flashpoint has marked this note useful
Only registered TrekNature members may rate photo notes.
Add Critique [Critiquing Guidelines] 
Only registered TrekNature members may write critiques.
Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To milloup: Head over Heelsslrnovice2 2 05-04 15:54
To PDP: Timingslrnovice2 1 05-04 13:03
You must be logged in to start a discussion.

Critiques [Translate]

Great capture, only I'd wish for a bit more DOF to get more details within DOF range, but that's a minor problem. The eye stands out very sharply.
I've seen darters emerging, but where damsels are concerned I've only seen newly emerged ones, never one actually emerging. Is this the point when it's just turned around to pull the tail end out of the shell, too?
I'm not quite sure what lens it is you'll be getting, but I've shot in similar circumstances with a Canon 300D + a 28-300mm lens with a +2 macro filter. The trouble with that lies in not getting a wet bottom, if you have to bend low to look through the viewfinder ;-))

Excellent macro, this is an amazing image.

  • Great 
  • manyee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3064 W: 231 N: 6159] (21044)
  • [2005-05-03 0:55]

That is a fascinating shot. Hollie. What a shot, to capture that very moment. Excellent details, exposure and composition. Really fantastic!

  • Great 
  • AndyB Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1391 W: 32 N: 1350] (3982)
  • [2005-05-03 2:30]

Excellent shot.
Very good composition and nice detail.
A great moment,very well captured.
Good work,TFS.

  • Great 
  • PDP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor [C: 2821 W: 344 N: 3779] (11769)
  • [2005-05-03 4:37]
  • [+]

Wow! great shot, what time of day did you take this? I'm jealous, I really am. Great shot I wish it were mine. Well done Hollie.

Great shot Hollie.
I'm jealous too, it's om my wish list.
Very good close-up with nice details.
Well done.
no dimes left, pay you later. :-(

Fantastic shot Hollie! Very good details and the event is captured nicely..Hope to one day record this myself..jealous! ;-)

  • Great 
  • livios Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2156 W: 322 N: 4258] (16906)
  • [2005-05-03 16:13]

Hollie, this is very nice.

Excellent sharpness, composition and pov.

Congratulations.

Amazing capture and perfect timing, Hollie!
This is definitely not something which most of us will ever see firsthand. Congratulations and thank you for this fine posting.

I think the title SLR novice is an understatement. :) Great action moment captured here. its on my wishlist too. F4.5 is a bit open for such a close up and you need to setp down to at least F8 to get the DOF as large as possible. The quality and details are impressive and the DOF unusually large for F4 and this distance from the subject. Very well done.

  • Great 
  • sAner Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1490 W: 72 N: 1427] (4744)
  • [2005-05-04 6:07]

Hello Hollie,

RAZORsharp details! This is really excellent! Colors are great, DOF is wonderful. Very good work. TFS!

Regards,
Pieter

Hi Hollie I finally get 5 mins. to have a properlook at this one have forced you to post it ;0)))))
Well what can I say but good capture, so hard to see normally well hidden in the reeds and you got it good and sharp showing the complete lack of colour at this stage, as has been said already the DOF is a fraction tight, F5.6 at a slightly slower speed would of got the back leg in as well.
Hand holding the 100mm should be possible though purchasing an angled view finder attachment will help with some of the neckache. Thank you for showing it . I treally is very good.
Yours Robert

Great shot of a special moment! :-)

Hi Hollie,
EXCELLENT all!!!
Very well done!
TFS Malgosia

that to say......................
fantastic shot

ciao Sergio

Calibration Check
















0123456789ABCDEF