What a difference a background makes. Recently I have been seeing a lot of beautiful female Needham’s Skimmer dragonflies (Libellula needhami) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It is often a challenge to try to separate them from the background vegetation so that you can focus in on the dragonfly’s wonderful details, like its gorgeous speckled green eyes.
Here are two images that I was able to capture with uncluttered backdrops, one with sky and one with vegetation. I tend to like the first shot a little bit more because of the beautiful blue sky, though I like the lighting and the wonderful Eastern gamagrass in the second shot.
It is fascinating to see what a different feel the background gives to images of similar subjects. Do you prefer one image over the other?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
I love the beautiful blue sky Mike, and the way that the wing details stands out so clearly against it. Wonderful!
Thanks, Liz. The upward angle at which I was shooting and the bright sunlight allowed me to get a lot of the wing area in focus.
Both images are beautiful. My vote goes for the warmer green background but the wing detail of the first image!
I like your answer, Chris. Photography is often about choices and compromises–rarely am I able to capture a perfect image. Even if an image were technically superior, would it necessarily be beautiful? It’s the old art versus science debate.
Both are great pictures, Mike. It’s hard to choose.
Thanks, Dan. I figured that most folks would find it tough to choose a favorite.
Nice Mike! Never saw one of these before! Fun to see a different variety of dragonflies!
I love the blue sky one, but yet I think the details of the dragonfly stand out more on the other one, so hard to pick a favorite. They are both very nice.