Sony A77II
Minolta 200mm macro, Kenko 2x TC
ISO 800, 1/10 @ f32
This past summer we had this dragonfly come and perch on one of our bird of paradise leaves. He was there every morning for several days running. I got a number of shots and then decided to try for an extreme close up of his eyes. With the 2x aboard this is beyond 1:1. I got lucky that he chose to cooperate and that everything was pretty calm. All comments welcome. >=))>
1 Like
Bill, I thought about some of my dragonflies, but haven’t gone looking for it and posting yet to this WC. Wonderful details in this. I just love it when they cooperate with me (sometimes my talking to them and telling them that they have pretty eyes seems to calm them), and I can get in close for a shot like this. it does seem like it is a bit flat, and could use the contrast boosted a little, maybe. Otherwise, an excellent image of this guy. He has pretty eyes!
1 Like
Agreed about the flat light but when I open the image, the detail is stunning and you nailed the focus on the eyes! Hmmm…wonder does the Sony “eye detect” work on dragon flys? 
Bill, when the facets show strongly in a dragonfly’s eyes, you know you’ve gotten very close and found a cooperative subject. The details here are outstanding. The subtle colors in the eyes, thorax and perch all fit together very well. Good job avoiding covering the eye with the wing. While the repost with it’s extra color looks good, I prefer the gentleness of the colors in the original.
Bill …thats top class for a df eye. No nits …perfect
Balan Vinod
Bill, that is a awesome photo, the update really worked well for you. This kind of photo really brings out the amazing features in such a tiny insect. Nice job.
Repost much better. I like because it is different than typical face on bug shot.
Wow, an amazing view of what looks like a very complicated system. Just wonderful, and kudos for making it work. I do like the repost with more punch.
That’s a very striking Dragon Fly macro, Bill! I like the side angle as it shows more detail of the fascinating eye structure. Great details and the second version brings them out even better. Very nice!