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American Rubyspot Damsel
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American Rubyspot Damsel

by Arne Myrabo

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted August 8, 201078 views5 comments
(female Hetaerina americana) - a broadwing damselfly

I confess my tripod had to sit in the water for this one (doesn’t seem to be an issue). Irrigation boots, Gore-Tex pants, slogging through the reeds.

It likes clear streams and rivers, which I’ve not surveyed to this point. This damselfly has not been recorded in our county by www.odonatacentral.org, so I have reported it.

I really wanted to get a more perpendicular angle (note the softness in the tail). Original "documentation" photo was cluttered with river grasses & lily pads. I ended up putting the tripod in the drink to get a purely "water" BG, which required moving around a willow (slowly). A little breeze required bumping the ISO a bit. These are very striking damselflies - wish I could have found a male!

Any other suggestions, other than patience? :smile:

Oly e620, 70-300 lens @300mm, f13, ISO 400, 1/160s

Comments

5 comments
Comment posted by Sam Rua on August 8, 2010 at 11:46 PM
Not a bad capture at all, Arne. Congrats on recording this as a new find in your area. I know these Rubyspots are pretty skittish so I think you've done well given the difficult location conditions. :smile:
Registered on September 9, 2006, 130 Posts, 2281 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on August 8, 2010 at 11:53 PM
Arne:
A very nice capture of the damsel. The wing patterns are well seen and the perch is really beautiful. Well done :toast:
Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments
Comment posted by jamie pringle on August 9, 2010 at 10:32 AM
Damselflies are very tough to get detail because of their size, but I think you have a very nice capture with the wing detail, cool perch, and clean background. I agree that this will come together 100% once you get the opportunity to get a better angle...and good work id'ing a new specie :toast:
Registered on August 10, 2005, 323 Posts, 1216 Comments
Comment posted by Daniel & Loana on August 9, 2010 at 12:06 PM
Very nice subject.

Congrats, well done.

D&L
Registered on October 7, 2008, 166 Posts, 3044 Comments
Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on August 11, 2010 at 9:58 AM
Well worth the wet feet and tripod. Your dof is greatshowing nice focus on all of the fly
Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments