Male Halloween Pennant Dragonfly

I noticed this dragonfly on top of a perch in a field at a local NWR in June one year. I found the pastel background to be rather striking and chose to include much of it in the image. The male of this species is orange rather than the amber of the females I have posted earlier.
I cloned out a stick in the foreground and also took out some flash highlights on the dragonfly itself.

Canon 7D, 300 f4L IS, 1.4x TC, speedlite, monopod
ISO 400, f13, 1/250s, fill flash

Any comments appreciated.

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
1 Like

Allen, an amazing amount of detail here. The largest size reveals the tiniest white follicle strands on all the extremities…Excellent…:+1:

Boy, those wings really tell you where this one got its name, Allen. Beautiful detail, though just a bit more depth of field might have kept the far wings sharp. Then again, it might have messed with the background, so it’s a difficult call. I like the composition.

Allen: Your dragonfly shots are knocking them out of the park. Terrific perch and BG. I like how you managed the plane of focus with the eye and body sharp even though the wings are a little OOF. :+1::+1::+1:>=))>

Really excellent detail, despite the slightly OOF wings. A real standout against the pastel BG.:sunglasses: