Wow, kiddo, this is the best yet. Absolutely beautiful.

The color of the background really makes this shot for me. Excellent hunting & tracking story too :)

This is *beautiful* !!! I just love the detail and the colours in the background. This is definitely a good one to leave us hanging on. I hope you have a nice break!

This is an amazing shot, Alastair. Such great colors in the background and detail in the wings...

Super colours in the background make this one fine shot.

Love this one. The background colours really make it.

holy smokes, this is awesome! the colors are fab and the sharpness on the upper body is fantastic. the best so far.

This is a lovely shot Alastair, I can't believe how bright it is without flash - If you carry on like this David needs to be careful! ;)

Wow, incredible colors and great detail. It's a beautiful shot.

I love the detail on the wings. Great macro once more.

incredible! fantastic!

Damn that is an amazing shot! I have a dragonfly shot that I was lining up to post, but frankly I need to do better having seen this one!

Wow, wow, wow. This has got to be one of the most beautiful dragonfly shots I have ever seen. Ever. I love the detail, the vibrant color, the angle. Fanastic!! I'm adding you to my blogroll right NOW. :)

Alastair,

This is awesome! Perfect macro. I am amazed at the sharpness of the focused areas, especially the wings, and the beautiful, beautiful colors. The background is wonderful.

As your previous shots, this one is another fantastic image.

Wow. This photo lets me truly appreciate the beauty of a dragonfly. Thanks for sharing :)

Beautiful

You guys are killing me with these dragon/damselfly shots. This one is excellent, the details in the wings are neat and the bokeh adds a nice touch. I always have trouble getting close to them enough.. Do you shoot them in the morning when they're a little bit easier targets ?

Awesome, stunning, crisp, amazing.

Wow, I like the brilliant colors. Consider working for National Geographic they need fresh content at times.

*whistles* That's one pretty dragonfly. ^_^

I like your choice of DOF. With the growing accessibilty of digital cameras, more and more macro pictures pop up. It takes a bit to separate yourself from the rest. This one does, not so much by color, but by composition. By blurring out parts of the subject you force the viewer to focus on the important parts. Well shot.

Fantastic colour in this shot, Depth of field is perfect.

Really great shot, Alastair. The colours in the background are amazing, as is the little devil's eyes. Look at those blue shiny orbs - Lovely!

I agree with Matt, this is great. I'm still waiting for spiders.

You really have some kind of obsession on dragonfly ya? But is this kind of dedication that makes your dragonfly shots so good.

The eyes of this shot looks like crystal. Interesting colours too.

Good Grief! WOW - What a shot - I'm stunned. The colour is so totally amazing. Your best to date IMO. :-)

Very, very beautiful!

Great stuff, considering how them dragonflies zip around.

wow!great detail of the dragonfly esp the eyes, so brilliant!

This is gorgeus! The background colors are perfect for this shot.

Thank you all for the many supportive comments; I'm glad that this picture has been so well received as it's one of my favourites. Alas, there aren't likely to be any more shots of these chaps this season, as Autumn fast approaches, but I'm certain that something will turn up.

Quite frankly, this is the most beautiful insect shot I have ever seen, and I browse pictures every day. Superb!

Alistair...WOW!!! In Native lore the Dragonfly is the image of change, a simply divine capture. thank you.

what a beauty! love the detail and the sharpness! too bad the details of the wings got lost in the dof...

Marvelous shot. The colors/valuates in the eys are great.

Love the detail in the wings as well!!

Miss your photos!!!

I love this picture and you know why.

: )

Awesome shot Alastair! Gorgeous colours and fantastic sharpness. Great work! :)

Superb

All I can say is AWESOME!

a lot of people take dragonfly shots. alot of them are shit.

this is one of the best

For a moment my eyes decieved me. I didn't think I was focusing correctly on the eyes of the dragonfly then it occured to me that the compact lenses would give this almost reflective quality to the surface. nature on closer inspection astounds me. A gift dear boy and gift from your eyes to mine.

Thank you,

k

This is the one to beat. Everything is just perfect.

wow! great colors and DOF!

Stairs, that's just showing off. Give up this molecular biology nonsense (there really is no money in it) and do this professionally instead.

Awesome,

That is some picture - the background is perfect for the dragonfly

Wow. Amazing in the literal and abstract realms. Very nice.

Blimey, that IS a perfect macro. I didn't realise there were more colours on their backs than just the blue. I also absolutely love the wing detail. Must have taken patience to capture such a vivid and crisp shot. Great backdrop too.

Utterly amazing detail. I can't make up my mind if all the different colours in the background are distracting or not, but I think they're great too.

damn. not surprised that this shot has recieved so many comments. simply wonderful.

The detail and colour shown is stunning!

Wow...the detail in the wings is simply amazing...especially against that background! I know that's about what everyone else said, but it's true!