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Another DragonFly Try

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photo t

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One of these days I will get the shot I'm looking for. But until then, please help .... What do I need to do to get a better shot? I like Shot #1 but want it sharper, #2 - I like the shadow of the dragonfly. Still learning the 30D, new 400mmL, and new 430EX. Thanks.



 
DOF is very narrow at this FL and no camera shake is critical. Use a tripod, monopod if you have too. Here are a few of mine with the 300F4L + 1.4 and I find the IS indespensible. I use a monopod. I find very little image quality loss if any with the 1.4 on this lens.









Last one taken from about 15 feet away. Try to get shot from the side of the dragon fly to get more dof and more in focus. In good light, I don't think you need a flash. Keep working at it and it will come.
 
Thanks so much. I really like your shots and appreciate your help. As they say, "Tomorrow is another day" and I'm going to take the advice and use it.
 
more with the above poster, trying to get the lens in allignment with dragons is the key, they are very symmetrical insects so you have to use some simple geometry when framing them, like a side view, frontal or even the above view used for mainly identification purposes works.

also.. it takes practice and patience doing macros.. not much DOF to work with, keep trying your photos look good, now its just getting out there a little more!

and here are some sample shots from me:

frontal:



Above:



and Portrait..



Keep shooting and post them when you get them!

Charles
--
http://www.fotki.com/charlemagne
 
Very nice.

I spent hours trying to get a picture of one and they never seem to sit still for me, but one day I got a chance to get a few quick shots.
My best one.

 
Thanks for everyone's comments, advice and for all the great shots. It gives me something to strive towards and it looks like I'm going to be shooting a lot. Practice, practice, practice.
 
Very nice Charles, which lens?
 
Very nice Mark, I've been trying to get a mid air shot for some time but have been unsuccessful.
 
With everyones advice, I think these two shots turned out much better than yesterdays. I still need to work on getting them to pose where and how I want them to ... but like was said, they are creatures of habit and keep going back to the same place. I just have to figure out the right place. Thanks again for all the advice and let me know what you think of these.

T



 
I have also been getting into dragonflies recently and have been using a 500mm lens with 1.4x TC and 36mm extension tube. I use this setup because I am usually actually out looking for birds but the dragonflies are tough to pass up. I try to stop down to between f/8 and f/11 if I can and try my best to get aligned with the dragonfly to make the most of my DOF. Still it is fairly tough business.

Here are a couple of my attempts:







And there are more here:
http://www.pbase.com/dadas115/dragonflies

I am also trying to learn to ID them so I have attempted to put names to these guys and gals in my gallery.

Greg

--



http://www.pbase.com/dadas115/
 
Those are great shots and how nice to have different types of dragonflys. So far I have only seen two different ones in the pond that I am taking the photos in, but I am going to track down more. And I would love to get one in flight, but chances of that happening for me are slim. But I will keep trying. I love their design and their little happy faces.
 
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