Dragonflies and Damselflies

[Erik X]

WOW! Great shot, Erik!

Thanks Click. The 100-400 II with 1.4x TC is almost perfect for this kind of jobs. And also for airshows..
I just wish I could use AF, unfortunately it has a tendency to lock on the background most of the time

A White-faced Darter, waiting for lunch to be served. Photo taken from a kayak!
Edit: more likely a Four-spotted Chaser

F36A1502_DxO_full by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

 

[Berowne]

Lots of Beautiful Pictures here! The Damselfly is dificult to catch. At least could see her for a short time.

 

[Erik X]

Nice photos Berowne, those are hard to catch..

A Ruddy Darter with a relaxed look..

F36A1867_DxO_full by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

F36A1868_DxO_full-1 by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

"-Is that a Canon 5D3 you are shooting with..?"
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2aEDYKX]F36A3474 ZS DMap retouched by Erik Astrom, on Flickr[/URL]

 

[Berowne]

Great shots Erik, never caught one in Flight - here is a male darter sitting - and cropped.

 

[Click]

Beautiful pictures, Erik.

 

[Click]

Very nice shot, Berowne.

 

[AlanF]

Thanks Click. The 100-400 II with 1.4x TC is almost perfect for this kind of jobs. And also for airshows..
I just wish I could use AF, unfortunately it has a tendency to lock on the background most of the time

A White-faced Darter, waiting for lunch to be served. Photo taken from a kayak!

by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

Great shot with the fly as well!

 

[AlanF]

Thanks Alan, Click and Maximilian
Here is a front/face picture of the same individual...

by Erik Astrom, on Flick by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

Outstanding!

 

[AlanF]

Lots of Beautiful Pictures here! The Damselfly is dificult to catch. At least could see her for a short time.

Beautiful colours.

 

[AlanF]

Nice photos Berowne, those are hard to catch..

A Ruddy Darter with a relaxed look..

by Erik Astrom, on Flickr
by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

"-Is that a Canon 5D3 you are shooting with..?"
by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

More superb shots.

 

[AlanF]

Not many dragonflies around any more. Here is a common darter I saw yesterday.

 

[Erik X]

Not many dragonflies around any more. Here is a common darter I saw yesterday.

Now we're talking close-up Good job!

Since the four-spotted chaser has a transparent body, body fluids and internal organs must of course be color-matched to the transparent skin. It would simply not look good otherwise I wonder if those has to be careful with what they eat so they don't get any unsightly discoloration.. ?

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Gywkcz]F36A4408 ZS DMap_DxO_r2880 by Erik Astrom, on Flickr[/URL]

 

[AlanF]

You have really nailed the body from head to tail.

 

[Click]

Beautiful shot! Well done, Erik.

 

[Erik X]

You have really nailed the body from head to tail.

Actually, it is a focus stack from 3 pictures.. The dragonfly sat perfectly still
Thanks Click!

 

[Berowne]

Now we're talking close-up Good job!

Since the four-spotted chaser has a transparent body, body fluids and internal organs must of course be color-matched to the transparent skin. It would simply not look good otherwise I wonder if those has to be careful with what they eat so they don't get any unsightly discoloration.. ?

F36A4408 ZS DMap_DxO_r2880 by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

OMG, this is sharp! Great Picture Erik.
Greetings Andy

 

[applecider]

Thanks Alan, Click and Maximilian
Here is a front/face picture of the same individual...

F36A2304_DxO_full-4 by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

F36A2416_DxO_full by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

great shots, noticed shot ar 1/6400 on 1.4x adapted 100-400mm, beautifully sharp and clear...

 

[Erik X]

Thanks for the feedback, Andy and Applecider!

great shots, noticed shot ar 1/6400 on 1.4x adapted 100-400mm, beautifully sharp and clear...

Fast shutter speed helps abit, worst problem is to keep a fast moving dragonfly centered in viewfinder at 560mm.. not to mention how difficult it is to focus manually. But it is fun when a sharp picture appears among hundreds of blurred 5D3 gives reasonably low noise at 1:1 crop up to iso1600. 3200 can also give quite good result with less cropping

It looks like this dragonfly is eating something from its hand (or what is it called, paw, claw?)

F36A8856_DxO_full by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

 

[Click]

Another very nice shot, Erik. Well done.

 

[Erik X]

Love among Damselflies..

F36A1244_DxO_2880 by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

F36A1307_DxO_full by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

F36A5499_DxO_2880 by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

Maybe they look better alone in close-up

F36A3250_DxO_full by Erik Astrom, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/21sm5FA]F36A6240_DxO_full by Erik Astrom, on Flickr[/URL]

F36A6079 ZS DMap_DxO_r2880 by Erik Astrom, on Flickr