photoartflightMonarch Butterfly At Davidsons Mill Pond
Posted on August 9, 2020
While I was photographing dragonflies at Davidsons Mill Pond Park this Monarch Butterfly flew in to these flowers right in front of me. I was using a 300mm lens with a 1.4x teleconverter, so I had to backup some because it was too close to focus on. I was shooting almost wide open to get a smoother background so the Monarch & the flowers would standout more against a smooth background.
2 image limited focus stack to get a little more detail on the Monarch head & flowers right in front of the Monarch and still have a smooth background
Common Whitetail Male Dragonfly At Davidsons Mill Pond Park
Posted on August 8, 2020
It finally started to get back to normal here after the storm went though. Power in the area seems back to normal, traffic lights are working so we could finally drive to a local park to see what we could find to photograph. I was mostly looking for dragonflies or butterflies. I was surprised that there were only a few people in this usually busy park.
As I was walking to the first pond I found this Common Whitetail Dragonfly on a fallen tree limb. It was warming in the sun and allowed me to get very close without flying off. I started from a distance and then worked getting gradually closer, taking a series of images along the way.
Finally A Blue Dasher In My Yard
Posted on July 29, 2020
Usually we have a few different types of Dragonflies in our yard. But this Summer we have only had Amberwing Dragonflies around. But they were very skittish and very small, so I did not get any good images of them. When I was out looking in our garden for other Praying Mantises I noticed a female Blue Dasher on our Dogwood tree in the front yard. I finally had an interesting Dragonfly in our yard that was very tolerant of being photographed. It was on one of the Dogwood Bracts basically at almost eye level. I was using a 300mm f/4 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter on a Canon 7D. It would take off, fly around then return to the same spot on the Dogwood. I was able to shift my position to get backgrounds in the shade and in the sun. I also was able to try different f/stops and a few image stacks. The featured shot I was at f/11 for more depth of field (so I did not have to do a focus stack) with a sunlit background.
Shifted my position angle for a shaded dark background for a more dramatic look. Same f/11 exposure.
Blue Dasher Female – 300mm f/11, 1250 ISO (busy background)
Female Blue Dasher Dragonfly, angled for a cleaner background, 300mm, f11, Canon 7D
Blue Dasher Female, f/13 – busy background version
Blue Dasher Female – Cropped from below image – 9 image focus stack, 300mm f5/6, 300mm With 1.4X teleconverter, Canon 7D
Blue Dasher Female, 9 Image focus stack, Handheld, f/5.6, (for a smoother background), 300mm with 1.4x teleconverter
Female Blue Dasher, 300mm, f/ 5.6
Cropped version of above image for face detail
Female Blue Dasher Dragonfly, f/11 – 300mm w/ 1.4x teleconverter.
Female Blue Dasher Dragonfly, 300mm, f/5.6
Blue Dasher- female, 300mm f/11
Seaside Dragonlet Dragonflies
Posted on July 27, 2020
These Seaside Dragonlet dragonfly images were from a previous trip to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland. It is a little over a 3 hour trip, but is fun to find a few different types of Dragonflies besides the usual ones by my home. A good spot to photograph dragonflies is around the main observation platform near the start of the Wildlife Drive. It has a long ramp instead of stairs to the main platform. So there are many dragonflies all around the platform. Plus easy access to dragonflies in the plants along the ramp sides. Another spot is the wooded area along the Wildlife Drive that has some water on both sides of the Drive. But dragons along here seem to move around much more and do not stay in one place long. The featured image is a male Seaside Dragonlet. Because of the angle, I shot 4 handheld images at different focus points. When adjusting my files I loaded the 4 images into 1 layered Photoshop file. Then I aligned the layers and then blended the layers for the final base file. All images were taken with a Canon 300mm f/4 lens with a Canon 1.4x teleconverter & Canon 7D.
Screen Grab showing the final finished merged Layer and below that what Photoshop chose as the sharpest areas on each layer.
Female Seaside Dragonlet Dragonfly
Male Seaside Dragonlet Dragonfly
Female Seaside Dragonlet
Female Seaside Dragonlet
Posted on July 13, 2020
A couple of images from a trip to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland. Some of the dragonflies already seem to showing a lot of wear already. Missing wing parts and just looking a little worn. It is amazing that some with almost no wing on one side can still somewhat fly. This is a Female Seaside Dragonlet and has a bent and damaged Segmented Abdomen.It amazes me the males and female dragonflies are so different in coloring & markings. Which also makes it difficult to ID sometimes. Then throw in immatures and it get more confusing! All images taken with a Canon 300mm lens with a 1/4X teleconverter on a Canon 7D.
Seaside Dragonlet – Male
Needham’s Skimmer Dragonflies From Blackwater NWR
Posted on July 13, 2020
Needham Skimmer Dragonfly images from a previous trip to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, outside Cambridge, Maryland. The featured image is a Needham Skimmer Dragonfly made from 3 images, focused at 3 different focus areas on the dragonfly and blended in Photoshop. I focused on near wingtip, body, then far wingtip. Even at f/14 with a 300mm lens I only needed 3 focus areas to get a sharp dragonfly from wingtip to wingtip and still have a smoother background. If I stopped down more I would get a more distracting backgrounds, so focus stacking helps the dragonfly stand out more.
Female Common Whitetail Dragonfly
Posted on June 30, 2020
A few images of a female Common Whitetail Dragonfly taken along a walk at the Audubon Plainsboro Preserve in NJ. I was using a Canon 300mm f/4 lens on a Canon 7D, mainly because it was lighter to carry for a long walk. The background is a little busy with the sandy & pebble path. But it cooperated by not flying off!
Dragonfly Eyes
Posted on June 27, 2020
An assortment of Dragonfly closeups focusing on their eye & face details. Images taken with 300mm & 400mm lenses with extension tubes.
Tree Swallow Nest In My Carport
Posted on June 24, 2020
When I was going to my car in the carport I noticed a Swallow flying in food to it’s chicks in a nest in the eaves of the carport. So I went to get a camera to photograph the chicks. The nest was in a very dark corner on the inside below the roof edge. Because of how dark it was and I was using a 300mm f/4 lens @ f/5.6, I upped my ISO to 3200 ISO to get a little higher shutter speed to get to sharper images in the dim light.
Moving Wings – Female Eastern Forktail Damselfly
Posted on June 17, 2020
I noticed this Damselfly on the tip of a leaf that was hanging over the water’s edge. I believe it is a Female Eastern Forktail Damselfly. I was using a 150mm Sigma macro on a Canon 7D. So I could not get closer, but thought it was still interesting because of the moving wings. I was surprised the wings had that much motion blur because I was shooting @ 1/250 @ f/4 for a smoother background.
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