Bands of Beauty!!

After reviewing some of my shots yesterday with the Banded Demoiselle nymphs, I come to the conclusion that the green background may not have worked like it has with some of the other nymphs I have photographed. With this in mind and looking at other photos of this species on the internet in different surroundings, I set about finding a more subtle background and went in the end for a few brown dead leaves from the garden. After positioning the leaf in the tank at the right angle and lighting the tank so the light picked up the leaf well, this made for a nice background colour and I hoped that this may show more detail in the shots. With most of the Banded Demoiselle nymphs already returned to a local river where they already breed I kept a couple back and spent some time last night in the kitchen. I spent an hour taking a good number of shots using manual mode, f8-11, ISO 400 and speed set to 250 and I think the results have worked out well with the subtle brown background compared to the session before. As well as taking photos it was also a nice excuse to be able to study them at close range and see the wing buds already well formed in some individuals. To think for some of these will transform from a not great looking nymph into superb flying Demoiselles soon and complete their epic journey is what it’s all about. All were returned this morning to the river to continue their adventure. Hopefully my camera will be there to capture some of them later in the year! 

Banded Demoiselle Nymph