THE D200 LOVES DRAGONFLIES!

I was trying like crazy to catch one of these dragonflies in the air
with zero luck. Finally one rested, I think it looks good for my first
catch. I had the ISO up from trying to catch them in air.
http://www.edgehill.net/1/?SC=go.php&DIR=California/Bay-Area/San-Francisco/edgehill-garden/Nursery/plants/2006-06-07&PG=1&PIC=5
ISO 1600 1/250 sec 200mm f/16 EC-.33 RSE conversion with moderate noise
reduction, heavy cropping & rotation to 1060x711. The original low
contrast uncropped jpeg is in the subgallery. The full wing crop looks
cool at 13x19" from about 5 feet away grin.

Ah crap, got the title backwards.
Hmph.

Paul Furman wrote:

I was trying like crazy to catch one of these dragonflies in the air
with zero luck. Finally one rested, I think it looks good for my first
catch. I had the ISO up from trying to catch them in air.
http://www.edgehill.net/1/?SC=go.php&DIR=California/Bay-Area/San-Francisco/edgehill-garden/Nursery/plants/2006-06-07&PG=1&PIC=5

ISO 1600 1/250 sec 200mm f/16 EC-.33 RSE conversion with moderate noise
reduction, heavy cropping & rotation to 1060x711. The original low
contrast uncropped jpeg is in the subgallery. The full wing crop looks
cool at 13x19" from about 5 feet away grin.

Paul Furman wrote:
Ah crap, got the title backwards.
Hmph.

Either way nice photo.

Scott

Scott W wrote:

Paul Furman wrote:

Ah crap, got the title backwards.
Hmph.


Either way nice photo.

Thanks!
It took a lot of cropping to find the pretty part! LOL

Paul Furman wrote:
I was trying like crazy to catch one of these dragonflies in the air
with zero luck. Finally one rested, I think it looks good for my first
catch. I had the ISO up from trying to catch them in air.
http://www.edgehill.net/1/?SC=go.php&DIR=California/Bay-Area/San-Francisco/edgehill-garden/Nursery/plants/2006-06-07&PG=1&PIC=5
ISO 1600 1/250 sec 200mm f/16 EC-.33 RSE conversion with moderate noise
reduction, heavy cropping & rotation to 1060x711. The original low
contrast uncropped jpeg is in the subgallery. The full wing crop looks
cool at 13x19" from about 5 feet away grin.

Excellent work!! Trying to shoot dragonflies is very challenging work.
You did it with flying colors!
Helen

wrote:
Paul Furman wrote:

I was trying like crazy to catch one of these dragonflies in the air
with zero luck. Finally one rested, I think it looks good for my first
catch. I had the ISO up from trying to catch them in air.
http://www.edgehill.net/1/?SC=go.php&DIR=California/Bay-Area/San-Francisco/edgehill-garden/Nursery/plants/2006-06-07&PG=1&PIC=5
ISO 1600 1/250 sec 200mm f/16 EC-.33 RSE conversion with moderate noise
reduction, heavy cropping & rotation to 1060x711. The original low
contrast uncropped jpeg is in the subgallery. The full wing crop looks
cool at 13x19" from about 5 feet away grin.


Excellent work!! Trying to shoot dragonflies is very challenging work.
You did it with flying colors!

Thanks!
I'm telling you though, this one was easy once it finally sat down. I
guess standing there waving a big lens at them for 20 minutes is the
price for compliance. All of the attempts at trying to get them in the
air were completely unrecognizeable blurs. The autofocus was locking on
something or it wouldn't have released the trigger but I don't know
what. I suppose the ISO 1600 was needed to get the DOF. I did get a few
shots of it sitting and had time to stop down for the last one.

There is no doubt you worked hard for these shots. Even tiny sparrows
have a hard time catching theses speedy dragonflies. I'm glad though
because they are a beautiful insect and they serve us well by eating
pesky mosqitos, etc. Keep up the great work!
Helen

Dragonflies certainly do like to eat.
http://www.jlkramer.net/Pictures/DFE...onfly_eats.htm

Paul Furman wrote:
I was trying like crazy to catch one of these dragonflies in the air
with zero luck. Finally one rested, I think it looks good for my first
catch. I had the ISO up from trying to catch them in air.
http://www.edgehill.net/1/?SC=go.php&DIR=California/Bay-Area/San-Francisco/edgehill-garden/Nursery/plants/2006-06-07&PG=1&PIC=5
ISO 1600 1/250 sec 200mm f/16 EC-.33 RSE conversion with moderate noise
reduction, heavy cropping & rotation to 1060x711. The original low
contrast uncropped jpeg is in the subgallery. The full wing crop looks
cool at 13x19" from about 5 feet away grin.

The trick to catching them in air is to find a favored perch. The
dragon fly will return to it in the same way time after time. Set the
lens to manual and Pre-focus in the area where the Dragon fly is likely
to be and wait. A fancy high-speed sync flash will improve your
chances of a crisp shot, but usually to the detriment of the
background. Good luck and use the delete button as needed :-)

JimKramer wrote:

Paul Furman wrote:

I was trying like crazy to catch one of these dragonflies in the air
with zero luck. Finally one rested,

The trick to catching them in air is to find a favored perch. The
dragon fly will return to it in the same way time after time. Set the
lens to manual and Pre-focus in the area where the Dragon fly is likely
to be and wait. A fancy high-speed sync flash will improve your
chances of a crisp shot, but usually to the detriment of the
background. Good luck and use the delete button as needed :-)

Ah, thanks for the tip. I should have hung around another 20 minutes for
the next rest & catch it landing or taking off.

You can startle them to get them moving. They will often return quickly.