Blue-Tailed Damselfly (female) Photo

Photographer’s Note

Have been saving this one for a slow day when nothing came out the camera right.
So here is a Female Blue tailed Damselfly, this one is the andromorph form (that is it looks like a male in colour), Bente posted the Violacea form one of the 5 variation in the females in this species.You can tell she is female by the spine under the end of the tail , the male lacks this.
With us this is the least common of the damselflies that breed in our lake though it is said to be common through out the country.
She can expect upto 8 weeks of adult life after spending only 3 to 4 days after emerging maturing to sexual maturity and upto 2years as a nymph in colder parts of the UK, but generally 12 -21 months. Mogens posted one of a damselfy on a spiders web, a bit or research later and apparently blue-tails specialise in robbing webs of small flies even with the owner at home, as well as both catching them on the wing and off leaves.
Adjustments
Satuation +6 lightness -3
contrast +2 brightness -3
sharpen edges
crop to size
save to web at 195K

elroyie, smael, andybrook, milloup, mogens-j, willow_of_god, pamastro, katsuhiro, jrj, Georges, Burnham has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

elroyie (2750) 2004-05-27 17:28

Great macro, the colours are superb, very good details and the compo is very good, I also liked that blured half cloudy sky at the background, it reminds me a picture of mine 'Stairway to heaven'.

smael (2878) 2004-05-27 17:31

Very nice colors, and the sharpness is as good as it's gets! The composition is so clean and also a bit unusual in a way. Makes it even better!
Here you can really study...
About sharpening; sharpen edges and not unsharp mask?

Terje

andybrook (136) 2004-05-27 17:37

Very nice colours and sharpness.
The detail of the wing against the blue sky is superb.
Excellent,very well done.

milloup (1829) 2004-05-27 17:40

Yet another beauty from your hand ;-). You're sure lucky to get them to perch so high up that you can shoot them against the sky, it does set them off beautifully.
Sadly, our best hunting ground for damselflies has just been mown all the way to the water's edges, so all the damselflies and other insects have either perished or taken off for "milder climates"..

bt9091 (103) 2004-05-27 18:22

ive never seeen a dragonfly this close or with these colors. amazing. it looks so good, its almost fake!! great shot. thanks for sharing.

mogens-j (56) 2004-05-27 18:40

I would say that this one of the best pictures I have ever seen of damselflies up to now because of the perfect pose and composition - nothing to disturb from the main subject. This one really is second to none. Well done Robert and thanks for sharing and for the informative note too.

rabani (9429) 2004-05-27 22:09

I am getting very very envious with your macros and your gear.Would you just look at the tack sharp and pretty detail of this dragonfly.I can't help admiring the lines on the wings, which has some slight glints as well.

pamastro (7213) 2004-05-28 0:12

Beautiful colors and crispness. It almost looks like a piece of jewelry in its colors and lines. The wings are so delicate and beautiful, too. And I love this sky as a background. It gives it a dramatic feel like it's on display for all to see. It gives me the feel of wind flowing around it as it basks in the sun and breeze. Very nicely done. It's very impressive.

tucancr (24) 2004-05-28 0:21

Very sharp image. Very nice background, great macro.

manny (21378) 2004-05-28 1:18

Robert, this is a special shot. Framing the dragonfly agains the clear blue sky is very thoughful as it gives a heavenly feling to this blue creature. I like this shot.

katsuhiro (479) 2004-05-28 3:48

Very well taken macro. Excellent details and colours. Well done!

jrj (34779) 2004-05-28 7:01

Thank's for the informative notes as without I had drawn blank here.
Very good macro, top setting against the fine sky. Top sharness makes for a study of the fine details on this Damselfly. Very good.

Georges (11185) 2004-05-28 15:00

Superbe détachement du sujet avec cette bonne profondeur de champ parfaitement maitrisée.
J'apprecie la note qui est trés instructive et j'aime bien la facon dont vous nous presenter vos photomacrographie.
Bravo l'image est trés bien détaillé Robert

Piotr (0) 2004-05-28 17:27

Great macro ,beautiful insect, Bravo!

Burnham (2426) 2004-06-02 5:39

Hi Rob. Well, since I've just started out in the macro game, I'm impressed by anybody who can capture a bug this sharp and clear, and I think it's great with the sky as a background instead of the usual green scenery. Very beautiful capture.

thanks for you help on my first macro, good advise.

joergen115 (2244) 2005-03-17 20:25 [Comment]