Name: Nathan Benstead
Picture title: Demoiselle Wing
Category: Young CUPOTY (U18)
Nationality: British
Age: 17

Nathan:
‘The wing of the damselfly is incredibly detailed and delicate. The banded demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) males have dark coloured bands on their wings, which I decided to try and photograph on my trip to the New Forest, Hampshire back in June. After finding a stunning male individual I set my lens to 2x magnification to get as close as possible and took the shot. You can see the drops of dew on the wing as the image was taken very early in the morning. I then left the demoiselle to dry off and warm up in the early morning sun.’

Technical information:
Sony a7rIV
Laowa 100mm f2.8
1/160, f/8, ISO160
Accessories: Rollei tripod, Nisi NM-180 focusing rail, Yongnuo YN560iii flash, diffuser.
Post processing: 18 images stacked in Helicon Focus. Basic adjustments in Lightroom and Photoshop, cropped.

Website: www.nathanbphotography.com
Instagram: nature.magnified
Twitter: NathanBenstead