Hover- and damselfly

I found a new small nature reserve in my area (about 20 minutes away).
It's a very swamp/marsh like area and initially I was tipped off to find frogs there, but yesterday the weather was much too hot and all frogs I found were tiny and fast as lightning. Not to mention that all the little puddles also had about a billion mosquitoes trying to feast on my blood.

In fact, I still have one unexplained redness and swelling near my elbow that's around 2 1/2 inch in diameter and at least 2/3 inch thick. Might have to see a doctor if it continues to swell up...

Eitherway, here's some shots from yesterday evening By the way I had major troubles with my working distance since I'm not used at shooting with flash around 1:1 (usually work that setup from ~2:1). That's why the lighting looks so harsh...

#1 - Damselfly (shot with flash + mini softbox).

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mdstoop/7358849​238/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mdstoop/7358849​068/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mdstoop/7173618​935/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mdstoop/7173619​143/

i'd say the "eyes" have it, nice detail in these

Lovely captures.

I am particularly taken with the hover portrait.

Thanks, Rick and Bas. I thought I'd change up my regular framing a bit, as it was recently pointed out to me that shooting bugs in extreme macro - without the context of flowers (or whatever they sit on) can become quite boring to look at

Very nice set