Sunflower Wings

[aivilocor]

This is a photo I took at the Denver Botanical Gardens with my new Canon Rebel T1i.
F-stop: f/6.3
Exposure time: 1/800sec
ISO speed: ISO-400

I was wondering if the background is contrasted enough with the focal point of the picture, which is of course intended to be the dragonfly. Should I consider making the background black and white? Is the stem in the picture too distracting?

Any input is much appreciated. Thank you!

[bruceliv]

This photo is a brilliant attempt at a very difficult shot to get. The most glaring problem is the lack of DoF. The wing in the foreground is very sharp, but the distraction is primarily the body of the insect which is not in focus. The second problem IMO, is the blown highlight the the bugs head.

[chicagojohn]

Originally Posted by aivilocor

This is a photo I took at the Denver Botanical Gardens with my new Canon Rebel T1i.
F-stop: f/6.3
Exposure time: 1/800sec
ISO speed: ISO-400

I was wondering if the background is contrasted enough with the focal point of the picture, which is of course intended to be the dragonfly. Should I consider making the background black and white? Is the stem in the picture too distracting?

Any input is much appreciated. Thank you!

I like this! Thanks for sharing it. I don't see any issues with the stem or dynamic range.

The only thing I would maybe suggest for the future is that to try to get the best depth of field so that you can get more of the subject in sharp focus, consider using the highest f/number possible at as much expense in exposure time and ISO as it takes.

So, for example, in this case, assuming the dragon fly was relatively stationary, if you were to come down from 1/800 to even 1/200, that would be two full stops. Then you could go up two stops in aperture to maybe f/11 or even f/16 and especially if you were to have gone to ISO 800.

Going to higher ISO is probably going to be pretty much OK on a shot like this for noise, but, I would say that the main thing would be to get the aperture small enough; high as possible f/number; go get the best depth of field and sharpest focus for as much of the image as possible.

Again, thanks for sharing. Nice image!