Close readers of my blog may have noticed I’ve posted a lot of photos recently that were taken years ago. Why were the photos passed over for publication closer to the time the shots were taken?
Sometimes there are better shots from the same photowalk that I’m eager to share, and sometimes they just don’t make the grade. The former requires no explanation; the following photos help to illustrate the latter.
The following female Slender Spreadwing damselfly (Lestes rectangularis) was spotted during a photowalk around a vernal pool in the forest at Huntley Meadows Park. The damselfly was perched in a hidey-hole in the vegetation at angle that made it impossible to get the entire subject in focus from head-to-tail.
The first photo shows the head and thorax in focus, but the tip of the abdomen and terminal appendages are out of focus.
15 SEP 2016 | HMP | Slender Spreadwing (female)
The last photo shows the tip of the abdomen and terminal appendages in focus, but the head and thorax are in soft focus. Look closely at a full-size version of the photo and you can see both styli (sing. stylus), structures that serve as sensors (like “curb feelers“) in egg positioning during oviposition.
15 SEP 2016 | HMP | Slender Spreadwing (female)
The odd thing is the focus point is nearly the same in both photos, and the aperture is identical. Go figure! Anyway, less than ideal focus is something that will cause me to reject photos every time. And then there’s that “too hot” blade of grass in the lower-right corner — talk about distracting!
Copyright © 2019 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.
Tags: Family Lestidae (Spreadwings), female, Huntley Meadows Park, Lestes rectangularis, oviposition, Slender Spreadwing damselfly, styli, terminal appendages, vernal pool
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