Male Widow Skimmer
07 July 2014 -- 188/365
Johnston, Rhode Island
I went to Johnston Memorial Park for today's photo, planning to get some people shots on the track by the pond. There were squadrons of dragonflies zooming about the lake, though, and I've always been fascinated by them. In fact, for a couple of years I used them for mosquito control back when I had a swimming pool in my backyard. I ordered dragonfly eggs from Carolina Biological, hatched them in a tub in my yard, and lived mosquito free for two summers. The neighbors, however, did not quite appreciate the number of dragonflies buzzing around. (They didn't appreciate the bat boxes I put up for the same reason. I guess they prefer bloodsucking mosquitoes!) Anyway, I had the wrong lens with me for the dragonfly photos, so I had to crop the bejesus out of this photo, hence all the background noise. Now that I know they're there, though, I'll return with a nice long lens to capture them.
Post processing started with a classic filter in Topaz B&W FX. I adjusted color sensitivity sliders, adaptive exposure, regions, contrast, boost black, and protect highlights. A levels adjustment was added in PSE.
Lovely shot and the black and white works exceptionally well here! I never knew you could buy dragonfly eggs, it would've been wonderful with no mosquitos! I would much rather have dragonflies then blood sucking mosquitos!
July 8th, 2014
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