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Just "photobombing" or attacking? (looking at the legs forming the trap cage)... and a Female Emperor Dragonfly gave a cameo performance, photobombed by a Common Blue Damselfly.
Great shots - he likes you!Talking about highlights and backlit ... how about backlit DIF?
Again a green-eyed hawker. Those seem to be the "easiest" to DIF for me.
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This second set is not so sharp and less detail but more for our avionic experts:
Look at the hind wings and the work angle. Looks like flaps on a plane, doesn't it?
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I really love those different colors and colorful wings compared to most old world dragonfliesWidow Skimmer and American Rubyspot
Thanks Maximilian. I think I identified them correctly, with the help from the app seek.I really love those different colors and colorful wings compared to most old world dragonflies
If you want some advice, please let us know.I’ve been trying to capture them in flight…easier said than done!
I'd love your advice. You, Alan and several others have taken some really awesome shots!If you want some advice, please let us know.
I cannot tell you about R5 AF settings but I am sure AlanF could do.
Most important is to observe their behavior and look for the spots where they hover for about 5 to 10 seconds.
But this can differ a lot between species. Good luck anyway.
I think that pic is quite a start, isn't it?Prince Baskettail
R5 EF 100-400mm
Yeah! Sometimes it's hard. See my post about my tries on anax.I'd love your advice. You, Alan and several others have taken some really awesome shots!
I did observe them for about 2 hours (while waiting for the Osprey to arrive, what I learned is that this species
hover for about 2 seconds and not in the same location! I did try to pre-focus at the approximate distance but the auto focus
(and myself) really struggled.
It would be great to get similar results with less effort. And for sure, if wife and/or children are with me I'll have to be quick, too... I don't have Maximilian's patience, and neither does my wife when she is waiting for me, so I have to be quick.
I think that pic is quite a start, isn't it?
Yeah! Sometimes it's hard. See my post about my tries on anax.
When I go out with my 5D4+100-400LII+1.4xExt. for DIF I typically use the following settings:
Bright sunny day, you'll need light, more light.
5D4 in Servo AF, Mode 4, 9 center AF points, sometimes full AF area, if they don't hover well enough.
Metering mostly partial or sometimes spot metering, esp. with dark bg.
Manual mode with auto ISO. Edit: with 5D4 I try to stay below ISO2000 to get more detail.
1/1000 - 1/1600, f/8 - f/10, for dragonflies, if they hover long I try 1/800 for wing blur effects
1/1600 at least, f/8 - f/10, for damselflies
I move around the pond or lake to see where they are and where they come back and hover.
And when I find a promising spot I do the same as you do: pre-focus and so on.
I've trained myself to look through the VF and at the same time past the camera with the other eye.
And then: patience, patience, patience! And retry. The AF and I, we both had some hard times, too.
For the anax I've waited maybe 2 to 3 hours, had maybe 30 chances to focus, three times the AF worked and I got 20 pic with 3 mediocre keepers.
The green-eyed hawkers and the downy emeralds hovered so often for more than 5 sec, that I needed just 5 chances to get double the pics and really pleasing results.
And last year the downy emeralds never hovered. Last year the anax never came closer than 30 m. No chance for anything.
So return as often as you can and like and stay patient.
For the demoiselles in flight it took me 5 years for decent results as they are always totally erratic in flight behavoir.
I hope, that helps a bit.
We here in Germany heard about the high temps and the burns in the news, esp. in BC. I hope it will get better soon.When it cools off, I will head out and try your suggestions.
This thread is suffering from over-copulation.
A few years ago (before covid) I had planed to move out west as their summers are warm, cool nights and fairly low humidity…at least they were.We here in Germany heard about the high temps and the burns in the news, esp. in BC. I hope it will get better soon.
Lower temps could mean that maybe the dragonflies could be a little bit slower/less active.
Maybe this helps to make DIF easier.