photoartflightFemale Blue Dasher Dragonfly
Posted on July 18, 2016
Some of my favorite photo subjects are Dragon & Damselflies. I have not had too many chances this year to photograph them, but we had a couple by our home the other day. These were Female Blue Dashers. They are only about 1.5″ long so you have to get pretty close. They seem to get used to you being around so they go about their business after a few minutes. I did not want to bother them so I used a 300mm lens with an extension tube. Usually they are fairly still for about 20 seconds or so, so I can shoot a series for image stacking. These did not want to cooperate so I had to get what I could. I did not want to stop down too much because I wanted a smooth clean background. On a few shots I replaced a sharper wing or 2 from my series that did not work for image stacking.
Image with 2 wings replaced
Blue Dasher With Mites
Posted on April 20, 2016
Sometimes you see Blue Dashers with what looks like eggs under them. Researching this, it seems they are mites. Must be uncomfortable for the Dasher!
Blue Dasher Dragonflies at The Celery Farm Natural Area
Posted on August 10, 2015
I had gone to the Celery Farm Natural Area to look for Dragonflies that were different from the ones at my pond. But the best dragonfly subjects were still Blue Dashers! At least I got different looking backgrounds. Had fun photographing them on different plants and was able to get close.
Blue Dasher Panorama
Posted on August 3, 2015
This Blue Dasher flew in where I was setup for photographing Dragonflies. This is a 5 image panorama blend with overlaps. The Blue dasher is only about 1.5″ long so not to scare him off, I was using a 300mm lens with a 1.4X teleconverter with multiple extension tubes so I had ample working distance. I assembled the images in Photoshop. I got many images as the Blue Dashers were quite abundant in the area.
Blue Dasher Dragonflies
Posted on June 27, 2015
The Dragonfly activity at our pond is increasing. Mostly Blue Dashers with a few other types flying in.
Blue Dasher Portrait
Posted on July 23, 2014
I was trying different lens, extension tube placement and teleconverters along with fill flash to get better effects for photographing the dragonflies. When I get what I feel is the best combination, I will post it here. I have been trying to maximize the sharpness and still get a smoother background. All these photos are from 5 to 10 feet away from the subjects. I cannot use a normal macro lens since they are in an area that I cannot get close to the dragonflies.
Blue Dasher Landing
Posted on July 20, 2014
When I am shooting Dragonflies, sometimes I pick out an active dragonfly going after bugs. They constantly dart off to grab a bug, then return usually to the same grass or reed to eat their catch, giving you an opportunity to be focused on the area and get a action shot of the Dragonfly landing. Sometimes they might go to a different branch here or there, but overall about 7 out of 10 landings are on the same branch. Trying to track them as they are just flying is hard , especially to get them in focus and framed. This gives you a chance to get some good flight photos. Do not forget to use a high shutter speed, maybe with fill flash.
Blue Dasher Dragonfly Panorama
Posted on July 19, 2014
A side view of a Blue Dasher Dragonfly, showing detail in the body and hairs. Focus is on the body, with purposeful very limited depth of field to blur detail on the wing in front of the body to see the detail on the eye and body of the Dasher.
photoartflight 