Damsel

[bardster]

Had swarms of blue and red damsel flies over the pond today so got the camera out. This was the best of the bunch I took.
http://www.probetech.co.uk/gallery/damsel.jpg

[bardster]

here's a couple of the blue's, just missed the focus on these though. using a 300mm with a 2x in macro mode doesn't leave a lot of room in the DOF! :D
http://www.probetech.co.uk/gallery/blue-damsel1.jpg
http://www.probetech.co.uk/gallery/blue-damsel2.jpg

[bardster]

no comments at all?

[Just Dave]

Hi

Your photos have some good points, eg, POV and framing, unfortunately they are a bit OOF but good try, :)

Dave

[Canon Bob]

Yep, sorry but I have to agree....they all look a little too soft as though you've missed the focus. As D&J says...the composition is fine.

Bob

[bardster]

cheers. These were all shot in raw and then just exported to jpg from lightroom and resized.
should I do any other post processing? would it help? I must admit i did think they were a bit soft. but put it down to hand holding the camera with it fully extended and with a bit of a breeze so motion blur? rather than out of focus. was using a tamron 300mm with a 2x tele on manual focus - could this cause the softness?

[Just Dave]

Hi bardster,

Yes most probably it is because your where handholding it might be better to use a tripod and a cable release for these type of shot, I had a go at your damsel fly HYDM

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2142/2515382531_b0b1640ab9_o.jpg

Original Photo By bardster

Dave

[jammie*dodger]

Have a look in the Macro section, there are some really helpful guys in there that have a lot of knowledge. Try bumping the ISO. I'd rather have a noisy shot that was in focus than a clean one OOF.

Cheers, Rob.