Stare of the dragon (fly)

[gkodancha]

Got this cute fellow to pose for me. This was a handheld shot. Would appreciate your critique on the overall composition and whether I could have improved the photograph by using a tripod.



Exif Data
Camera: Panasonic DMC FZ35
Aperture: F/4.4
Focal Length : 86mm
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
ISO : 160

[sunwrites]

it's a great shot but a wee bit too grainy for my liking. maybe you could have reduced the ISO a bit. and also got the whole creature in the frame. just my two bit worth.

sunwrites

[Crysi]

I agree with the post above. I think it is too grainy. Great capture. I almost would have like you to have angled just a little bit to the left or right so we could see more of his body.

[valyasokol]

Will the dragonfly wait till you set up a tripod? Don't think so. The tripod can "ruin" the whole picture here ;-). I agree that it's too grainy and the "tail" looking straight up takes my eye out of the picture. Maybe I'd make it horizontal instead to get rid of the tail and the most grainy part. Just my thought.

[rengles]

I agree w/the graininess...too close of a crop maybe? love the colors, though, and that he's looking straight at the camera!!!

[Obijuan]

Agreed. Noise and blur.

[Kommplexcitie]

With an ISO of 160, I'm not sure what we're seeing is really grain/noise, but artifacts from post processing. I find that sometimes sharpening gives the same effect as noise. What kind of post did you do on the image?

-K

[gkodancha]

Hello K,

I did not do much of PP except for cropping the shot and increasing the contrast and sharpness a little bit. I am not very comfortable with the image editing software yet and I try to keep the changes to the bare minimum.

Thank you very much for your comments and let me try to improve on my shots in future.

Gopinath

[gkodancha]

Another shot of the same guy but this time from another angle. Is this better than the first photo above? Could this be made better with changes in the angle and PP. I have done no PP except for cropping.



EXIF
Camera: Panasonic DMC-FZ35
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/4.4
Focal Length: 86.4 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Auto, Fired

[Kjgregor]

Much better on the second shot....

and not to be picky but you actually have a Damselfly here...

Dragonflies have a relatively stout body, and the wings extending to each side while the it is perched. Damselfly bodies are slender by comparison, and wings are held above the body while at rest.

By the way I have tried many times to take these little guys photos, good work on capturing them, they dont stay still for very long...