Libellula luctuosa

frons

Here is a 4-image stack of a female Libellula luctuosa (Widow skimmer). C&C welcome. I've never really been happy with my early morning photos. Too much blue before sunrise, unwanted artifacts with flash. Tips appreciated.
ISO 400, 1/25, f8.0, FEC +0.7 with on-camera flash

Lord Vetinari

Well looks good to me - love the colour.
Why did you use flash ? - looks mainly natural light in the shot.
Brian v.

frons

Lord Vetinari wrote:

Well looks good to me - love the colour.
Why did you use flash ? - looks mainly natural light in the shot.
Brian v.

Thanks for the comments, Brian. Before sunrise there is a strong bluish cast without flash, particularly on yellow subjects, and flash adds a bit of sparkle to the dewdrops and more detail to dark areas like the wings and eyes. Direct flash isn't ideal on wing surfaces, though, so I need to find a diffuser or off-camera solution.

Here are two shots earlier that morning, the first without flash, the second with. Which do you prefer?

Lord Vetinari

That's hard- actially like both - but #1 just shades it for me. Might be because I used to go fishing very early and watch the sunrise- I love early morning light
Brian v.

GOLDENORFE

very nice, nothing wrong with any of these.
i prefer the last flash shot out of the 2 frames. maybe slower shutter speed with flash, maybe 1/80 or 1/100th would be a compromise
phil