Dragonflies and Damselflies

[AlanF]

"What I like is with the same lens you can get them in flight".
"I prefer these shots of the Migrant Hawker to my last as the head is turned towards me".
From my point of view the second sentence is important but by far not as important like the first one!!! The first one is making huge difference. The second... Well we all know it is a luck, it's a dragon doing what it wants!
Doesn't matter - once you have the right lens you are able (or may be not ) to challenge the dragon - up to your skills!

I could do nearly all of my birding/insect photography with just one lens plus extenders from most of the manufacturers - the 100-400/50/600 zoomss from just about all and the 500/5.6 PF from Nikon (because that prime is just so sharp at 3.0m). With the Nikon 800 and Canon 800/11, I need a second lens. The RF 100-500 is nice because it is so sharp close up as well as at long distances.

 

[AlanF]

Here's a side view of the Migrant Hawker (R5+100-500mm).

 

[Click]

I really like this shot. Well done, Alan.

 

[Maximilian]

Here's a side view of the Migrant Hawker (R5+100-500mm).

Really lovely.
Reminds me of an older photo of mine, but yours is definitely better.
Maybe I'll get some points for the bg and the overall sharpness tip to toe
I don't like reposting, but I couldn't find the old post any more - whyever...

 

[Maximilian]

Migrant hawkers seem to be the dominant species right now.
I still have some photos in the queue, but I am happy to be able to post another species as well.
During a trip to Northern Germany, I came across a brown hawker again. It's been 10 years since I last had the chance to take photos of those.
Now I could get a male in flight. Pretty far away, so one of the few times when a R5 would have been the better tool
R6m2@500mm, f/10, 1/1600, ISO1600 to 6400, 1:1 cropping

 

[AlanF]

Migrant hawkers seem to be the dominant species right now.
I still have some photos in the queue, but I am happy to be able to post another species as well.
During a trip to Northern Germany, I came across a brown hawker again. It's been 10 years since I last had the chance to take photos of those.
Now I could get a male in flight. Pretty far away, so one of the few times when a R5 would have been the better tool
R6m2@500mm, f/10, 1/1600, ISO1600 to 6400, 1:1 cropping

View attachment 211152View attachment 211153View attachment 211154
View attachment 211151

Here is one from the R5.

 

[Maximilian]

Here is one from the R5.

Much better than mine. How far away? How much cropping was needed?

 

[AlanF]

Much better than mine. How far away? How much cropping was needed?

It's a 2300x1600 crop from the centre of the 8192x5464 image. I estimate about 60% of the distance of yours from the relative sizes and differences in Mpx.

 

[Click]

Excellent shot, Alan.

 

[danfaz]

Spotted this guy hanging out on a twig.

 

[Maximilian]

Spotted this guy hanging out on a twig.

Nice perspective.
Wonderful blue sky, once again

 

[Click]

Spotted this guy hanging out on a twig.

I really like the POV. Nicely done, danfaz.

 

[danfaz]

I really like the POV. Nicely done, danfaz.

Thank you, appreciate the feedback!

 

[Maximilian]

Some ruddy darters are having fun (hopefully )

 

[koenkooi]

The results from this weekend, the first 4 are R5+EF180L, the last 2 are R8+RF100L. The 5th picture with the spiderweb is a stack of 2 pictures, the excessive focus racking when using spot-AF at close distances can have a positive effect sometimes

Pretty overcast weather, the ISO ranges from 640 to 2500 for these shots, all have been run through DxO PL6.

 

[Maximilian]

The results from this weekend, ... Pretty overcast weather,

Nice series.
At least you could go out. I'll have to wait until tomorrow or maybe this afternoon.
It's been raining almost all day long since Friday, with a max of almost 30l/m² on Saturday.
But better than in southern Bavaria, where they had some floodings.

 

[koenkooi]

And a focus stacked version on the 4th picture of my previous post, I like the deeper DoF, but I'm not convinced it's 'better' than the non-stacked version.

 

[AlanF]

And a focus stacked version on the 4th picture of my previous post, I like the deeper DoF, but I'm not convinced it's 'better' than the non-stacked version.

View attachment 211193

Depends what you are trying to achieve. Sometimes we want it to be artistic but often with insects we want as much as much as possible of the fly to be in sharp focus. Erik who used to contribute was really good at focus stacking by doing a burst while moving forwards and backwards. I must admit I try as hard as I can to be at absolute right angles to a dragonfly or damselfly but I also like some with perspective. I often stop down a lot.

 

[Maximilian]

My second willow emerald this year.
I couldn't avoid the red electric fence in the bg as it was sitting right on it.

 

[koenkooi]

Depends what you are trying to achieve. Sometimes we want it to be artistic but often with insects we want as much as much as possible of the fly to be in sharp focus. Erik who used to contribute was really good at focus stacking by doing a burst while moving forwards and backwards. I must admit I try as hard as I can to be at absolute right angles to a dragonfly or damselfly but I also like some with perspective. I often stop down a lot.

I generally try to do 3/4 views, but requires stacking and/or flash most of the times to get both the 'moustache' and eyes in focus. My goal for next macro season is to get stills and video clips of dragons and damsels chewing. A good candidate for renting an R7 + RF 2x

Sometimes I get lucky with straight top-down shots, which I find hard to get right:

RP+EF180L, July 2020

And a shot where I would've preferred to be slightly more to the right to get a proper right angle (and a lot closer):

R5 + EF180L, past weekend