photoartflightBlue 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.
Twelve-Spotted Skimmer Wing Detail
Posted on June 16, 2015
The Twelve-Spotted Skimmer has an interesting wing, between the textures and the color patterns of white and black spots. If you are photographing them, they fly off to get their meal and usually return to the same perch so be ready to capture more images.
Blue Dasher Dragonfly
Posted on June 7, 2015
The Dragonflies and Damselflies are starting to come back to our pond. This Blue Dasher almost looks like it is smiling and posing for me. There are just a few at the moment, but it usually takes a while for the numbers to increase. This was shot with a Canon 400mm f/4 DO lens with a special combination of extension tubes and a Canon 1.4X Series III teleconverter. Placing them in a certain order and sequence actually gets you closer and magnifies the image on the sensor more than the way people usually use them. Perfect for closeup photos of Dragonflies and Damselflies without getting right in their face, so to speak. Also allowing to get images when water or other obstacles are blocking you getting closer with a normal macro setup. I also sometimes use a flash with a Better Beamer to open up the shadows. I will do a post on this later.
One of the closeup 400mm setups, with flash, minus the Better Beamer in Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Cambridge Maryland
Blue Dasher On Trumpet Vine
Posted on August 20, 2014
While we were looking for Dragonflies at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge Maryland, I found this Blue Dasher on a Trumpet Vine. I liked the orange-red color of the blossom with the blue of the Blue Dasher. It stayed there for about a half hour as I was photographing other Dragons. There was a large amount of Dragonflies buzzing all around me.
Blue Dasher Dragonflies Mating
Posted on July 7, 2014
I was photographing the usual Blue Dasher Dragonflies at the pond when all of a sudden a female showed up. A male started mating with the female, landing in front of me. After that, the female started laying eggs in the pond, flying back and forth, dipping into the water, giving me a chance to get quite a few shots. Here is just a sampling.
Blue Dashers Mating. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO IS f/4, 32mm of extension tubes, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, 25mm extension tubes, Fill flash, with Better Beamer Flash Extender, – 2 stops, f/8, 1/1600 sec., -2 stops, ISO 1250
Female Blue Dasher Moving Around, Laying Eggs in Water. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO IS f/4, 32mm of extension tubes, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, 25mm extension tubes, Fill flash, with Better Beamer Flash Extender, – 2 stops, f/8, 1/1000 sec., -2 stops, ISO 1250
Female Blue Dasher Laying Eggs in Water. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO IS f/4, 32mm of extension tubes, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, 25mm extension tubes, Fill flash, with Better Beamer Flash Extender, – 2 stops, f/8, 1/1000 sec., -2 stops, ISO 1250
Female Blue Dasher Laying Eggs in Water. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO IS f/4, 32mm of extension tubes, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, 25mm extension tubes, Fill flash, with Better Beamer Flash Extender, – 2 stops, f/8, 1/1000 sec., -2 stops, ISO 1250
Blue Dasher Coming in to Land
Posted on July 5, 2014
Spent some time at my pond shooting Dragonflies & Damselflies. The Blue Dashers are increasing in numbers, darting all around the pond. They spend a lot of the time catching bugs for their meals. Once they catch one they return to a grass or tree branch to eat. I was practicing shooting them in flight and thought that waiting for them to come back to a grass they just left to catch their meal might work. So far it seems like it works, but still need more practice. They are quick and you almost have to predict their movement before they move. They seem to perch more horizontally, either on flat surface or a tip of a grass or branch.
Blue Dasher on a horizontal grass. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 IS lens, 20mm Canon extension tube, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/8, 1/2000 sec, -1.33 exposure compensation, Fill Flash with Better Beamer Flash Extender @ -1.3 exposure comp, high speed flash sync., ISO 1250
Blue Dasher on a bent grass. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 IS lens, 20mm Canon extension tube, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/8, 1/2000 sec, -1.33 exposure compensation, Fill Flash with Better Beamer Flash Extender @ -1.3 exposure comp, high speed flash sync., ISO 1250
Blue Dasher on a broken grass. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 IS lens, 20mm Canon extension tube, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/8, 1/2000 sec, -1.33 exposure compensation, Fill Flash with Better Beamer Flash Extender @ -1.3 exposure comp, high speed flash sync., ISO 1250
Blue Dasher on a vertical grass, shot through grasses in front of Dragonfly to add strips of color. Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO f/4 IS lens, 20mm Canon extension tube, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/7.1, 1/60 sec, -0.67 exposure compensation, ISO 640
Twelve-Spotted Skimmer
Posted on June 26, 2014
This Twelve-spotted Skimmer has been hanging around the pond. It does not sit still for long, darting back and forth, chasing bugs and the Blue Dasher Dragonflies. It is constantly grabbing bugs and going back to roost and eat, then off to get another one. It seems to spend the night higher up in an evergreen tree. Then I was trying to get it flying back and forth. I am out of practice for these, but it is a start.
Twelve-spotted Skimmer. Canon EOS1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO, Canon Extension Tube 25mm, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/7.1, 1/640 sec., ISO 800
For the flying photos I opened up to f/5.6 to try to get a little bit more shutter speed for the fast moving dragonfly. I also shot with a -0.33 exposure compensation to also boost up the speed a little more, then opened up the shadows in Camera Raw. I usually use a little fill flash with a Better Beamer for this, but did not have a flash with me. A little out of practice, but it was fun to try. Also manual focus is more reliable for these small subjects, moving in and out of grasses, etc.
Twelve-spotted Skimmer Flying. Canon EOS1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO, Canon Extension Tube 25mm, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/5.6, 1/320 sec., -0.33 exp. compensation, ISO 800
Twelve-spotted Skimmer flying away. Canon EOS1D MkIV, Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO, Canon Extension Tube 25mm, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, f/5.6, 1/500 sec, -0.33 exposure compensation, ISO 800
Common Whitetail Skimmer Basking
Posted on June 8, 2014
Summer is almost here and the dragonflies and damselflies are starting to appear. Here are some shots of a Common Whitetail Skimmer, showing the chalky bluish white abdomen and the transparent wings with black bands. The sun was shining through the wings highlighting the wings and the hairs on its back. It kept taking off to get an insect for a meal and returning to the same warm rock to finish the meal.
Common Whitetail Skimmer Dragonfly Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO IS f/4 lens, Canon 25mm Extension tube, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter, f/10, 1/160 sec, ISO 640
Common Whitetail Skimmer Dragonfly Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO IS f/4 lens, Canon 25mm Extension tube, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter,
Common Whitetail Skimmer Dragonfly Canon EOS 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO IS f/4 lens, Canon 25mm Extension tube, Canon 1.4X Series III Teleconverter,
When using an extension tube with a long telephoto lens for closer focusing, try putting the extension tube between the lens and the teleconverter. This will allow to focus closer than if you put the extension tube between the teleconverter and the body of the camera. Also if you want to go to extremes, try this combination for closer focusing and it actually enlarges the image a little more. First the telephoto lens, then a 25mm or longer extension tube, then the teleconverter (1.4X) then another 20-25mm extension tube. It works quite well, but you loose auto exposure, so judge your exposure by looking at your histogram. I also usually use a better beamer on a flash foe some fill light with that setup. Remember to try experimenting with different options and see what works best for you and your lens combination.
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