photoartflightDamselfly with Water Drop
Posted on August 6, 2015
This Eastern Forktail Damselfly had a large drop of water on its mouth which acts like a magnifying glass, giving an interesting view.
Teneral Damselfly.
Posted on August 6, 2015
This Teneral Damselfly recently emerged from the nymph stage. It is an unsteady flier at this stage. But in this photo you can see the coloring is starting to come in and the wings are not as “glasslike” as when they first emerge. It’s almost transparent and not able to fly far. The body and wings are limp but they will firm up in a very short amount of time enabling it to fly off.
Damselfly With Raindrops – Stacked Images
Posted on August 1, 2015
Here are examples of stacked Damselfly images to show the difference between stopping down to f/22 or f/32 for depth of field and maximum focus of the subject Damselfly resulting in a busier background , or using f/5.6 or f/8 with stacked focus points giving depth of field and focus of the Damselfly and yet yielding a smoother looking background. All examples were aligned and stacked in Photoshop. One “BIG” challenge is hoping the damsel does not move or “flyoff” before you are done. The female Eastern Forktail stands out against the green soft background more than the bluish male. Focus Stacking is great for maximum depth of field and focus on your subject if that is what you are trying to convey. There are times when a narrower depth of field is more “Artsy” or “Softer” look and gives a different feeling for what you are trying to show.
Male Eastern Forktail shot @ f/32 for maximum depth of field in “one” shot. Showing “busier” distracting background around the damselfly.
14 image “stack” shot at f/5.6.
Wider view of above subject using a shorter layered stack.
9 image stack shot at f/5.6.
Non-Stacked Image shot at f/5.6 showing shallow depth of field on the Damselfly, but yielding an uncluttered background. But does give the main focus on face.
Simple 2 image “short” stack. Subject was fairly flat to the camera sensor plane.
Damselfly After The Rain
Posted on July 29, 2015
I went out early after it rained during the night to see what I could find. I was looking for raindrops or maybe damselflies in the grasses with water drops. I found quite a few interesting subjects to photograph. I used a Sigma 150mm Macro with a Canon Series II 1.4X teleconverter so I did not have to get right on top of my subjects. I tried different f/stops to get a variety of backgrounds, more blurry wider open or a little more distracting when stopped down more. Wider open did not give me enough depth of field to get the whole damselfly, Stopped down gave me more depth of field on the damselfly and raindrops, but gave me a busier background. I also shot many series at a wider open f/stop with a series of focus points to combine in an image stack which will give me more depth of field with a nice smooth background. I will post those later.
The featured opening photo was shot at f/5.6 for a smooth non-distracting background, but not as much detail on the damsel, but you get the face and some water drops. You see the expression on the face stands out and a water drop.
Damselfly @ f/16 – more depth of field but background gets more distracting.
Damselfly at f/22. More depth of field, background more distracting.
Damselfly @ f/13. Inbetween the first 2.
Damselfly @ f/32. More depth of field, more detail in damselfly, more raindrops in focus, but background gets more distracting.
Damselfly @ f/13. Enough depth of field for interest. Enough detail in the Damsefly and raindrops with a not overly distracting background.
Damselfly @ f/13. Again, enough depth of field for interest. Enough detail in the Damsefly and raindrops with a not overly distracting background.
Damselfly @ f/22.
Damselfly @ f/4. Very selective focus. Keeps your eye on the face and the expression on the face. Gives a “Dreamy” soft look.
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