photoartflightCommon 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.
Banded Hairstreak Butterfly
Posted on August 6, 2020
I was out in the yard looking for macro subjects after the Tropical Storm Isaias. In our community we had a few large branches come down from the strong winds, but nothing too major from what we saw during an early morning walk. We did not loose power, but 40% of our town lost power and close by towns were without power. Apparently it will take days for all power to be up again. A lot of the roads are closed and takes hours to try to get anywhere. Even close by stores are probably without power also, from what neighbors said that tried.
In the yard we found a Banded Hairstreak Butterfly in a Dwarf Alberta Spruce by our front door. I was able to get a few images before it disappeared in the Alberta Spruce. I was using a Sigma 150mm macro with a Canon 2x teleconverter.
Rain Drops On Evergreen Branch
Posted on August 5, 2020
After the a rain storm I noticed raindrops on evergreen branches above our sidewalk. I shot a few versions, then decided to shoot a panorama showing the new growth and the raindrops underneath. A 5 image panorama, shot with a Canon 7D with 300mm f/4 lens. It seems like Photoshop does better aligning the images in closeup panos with a longer lens, plus I get softer & cleaner backgrounds this way.
Eastern Amberwing Dragonfly In Yard
Posted on August 2, 2020
It was very hot outside to go to a park, so I was looking for subjects in our gardens. There were a few Eastern Amberwing Dragonflies but they seemed very wary of my camera. Finally, after a while, they seemed to tolerate my presence so I was able to get some interesting shots. They are some of the smallest dragonflies, only a little under an inch long. So you have to get pretty close to get detailed images.
Eastern Amberwing, f/8, 1250 ISO, 300mm f4 lens, 1.4X teleconverter, Canon 7D
Eastern Amberwing, f/8, 1250 ISO, 300mm f4 lens, 1.4X teleconverter, Canon 7D
Eastern Amberwing, Obelisk Position, f/16, 1250 ISO, 300mm w/ 1.4X Teleconverter, Canon 7D
Eastern Amberwing Dragonfly, 4 Image focus stack for wingtips, 1250 ISO, handheld, 300mm with 1.4x teleconverter, Canon 7D
Praying Mantis With Prey
Posted on July 31, 2020
I was looking for dragonflies in our gardens when I found this praying mantis with it’s bug meal. I was setup for dragonflies with a Canon 300mm f/4 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter. So I shot a series of images, handheld, to do a stacked multi-row panorama. I ended up with 7 images for my pano. 2 rows of 3 images and an extra shot for the center. The centered shot sometimes helps for a smoother blended area in the center of the composite layered Photoshop file. I loaded all files into 1 layered PSD file and let Photoshop align the files. Then I use auto-blend to blend all the layers and combine elements for the final file which goes to the top layer. I also save the Master Layered file (just in case I need to go back for a tweak here or there). I then flatten the file for the final image. At this point if I wanted, I would run the flattened file through Nik’s Detail Extractor, then use dFine to smooth out any added noise from the Detail Extactor.
Golden-winged Skimmer Dragonflies
Posted on July 31, 2020
These Golden-winged Skimmer Images are from a previous trip to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland. It is a great Refuge to photograph in, lots of photo subjects. Especially in the warmer weather – Bald Eagles, Ospreys and of course Dragonflies! There are many types of Dragonflies here and some we do not usually see in New Jersey. So it is fun to photograph some different types of dragonflies instead of the usual dragons. There are a lot of areas for dragonflies throughout the Refuge, but my favorite spots at Blackwater are the first Observation Platform along the Wildlife Drive and the Wildlife Drive area with standing water on both sides of the Drive. The Visitors Center has gardens behind the building which also is a good spot for dragonflies. At the Observation Platform there are lots of parking spaces there and dragonflies are prevalent all along here on the sides of the Drive. The platform has a long ramp to the main platform so there are lots of Dragonflies around the base and by the vegetation as you walk up.
Golden-winged Skimmer, female
Golden-winged Skimmer, male
Golden-winged Skimmer, female
Golden-winged Skimmer, male
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
Unicorn Clubtail Dragonfly Warming On Rock
Posted on July 29, 2020
I found this Unicorn Clubtail dragonfly sunning on a warm rock. I usually never see Clubtail dragonflies in any of my places I go to photograph Dragons & Damsels. These images were taken with a Canon 400mm Canon DO lens with an extension tube and a 1.4x teleconverter on a Canon 7D. The wings on the bottom of the image look like there are 2 sets of wings on that side because of the shadow of the wings on the rock. 
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
Blue Dasher Dragonfly Focus Stacks
Posted on July 19, 2020
Here are two different Blue Dasher focus stacks. The featured image is made with 3 images. First image is focused on the head, then fore wings & then front of the hind wings. I was using a 300mm f/4 lens on a Canon 7D with a 1.4x teleconverter. I loaded each image into a layered Photoshop file and let a Photoshop align & blend the sharpest areas. The second image I wanted to mainly focus on the face but the plant was in the same focus plane as the face. I thought that might reinforce the roundness of the dragonfly head because of the roundness of the plant. I was shooting @ f/ 5.6 for a shallow depth of field. I then focused on the fore wing because I wanted a sharp edge on the fore wing and let the rest go softer into the darker background.
photoartflight 