Another dragonfly

[StephenM]

Here's a dragonfly I found this afternoon while trimming the hedge in my garden. It sat still for several minutes while I trimmed all around it, so I couldn't resist going inside and getting the camera. Thanks for looking.

Cheers,
Stephen

[jjjnettie]

Exquisite images Stephen.

[astroron]

Stephen you must have the magic touch to make them stand still for you.
Well done.

[astroturf]

Nice shots Stephen

No.1 stands out for me,probably cos it's a full body shot

I'm finding that this particular model of Dragonfly seems to be more fearless or vain, in that it doesn't seem to mind posing,
other types don't give you time to focus unless you're real quick

Cheers
Bryan

[ving]

lovely shots stephen :)

[Quark]

Stunning detail Stephen,

The structure of the wings and resolution of the eyes is amazing.

Well done
Regards
Trevor

[StephenM]

Thanks for the comments, Jeanette, Ron, Bryan, David and Trevor. Glad you like the images.

Cheers,
Stephen

[ving]

er... natural light of flash?

[StephenM]

Natural light David. There was nice late afternoon sun through a thin layer of clouds. Enough light for me to shoot at f/8.

Cheers,
Stephen

[Octane]

Stephen,

Once again, you produce the goods.

That first shot does something for me. Probably because of the way its wings are poised -- they're not pointing backwards like you usually find them. The colour, the framing, saturation, and the light, oh, the light. As jjjnettie said, exquisite.

Regards,
Humayun

[RB]

Stephen you're producing some wonderful shots, lovely colours and great detail.

Well done mate, keep them coming, macro is so fascinating !

[StephenM]

Thanks very much Humayun and Andrew!

Cheers,
Stephen

[multiweb]

Been looking at those macro photos threads for a while. I find them fascinating :eyepop:
Couple of quick question coz I have absolutely no idea how it's done.

How do you focus?
Do you have to get real close or are you like 1 or 2m away and zoom in?
Do you use a tripod and how long are the exposures?

Thanks. Lovely work :thumbsup:

[StephenM]

Thanks Marc,

With my 50mm macro lens, I need to get within about 5 cm of the subject to achieve full magnification. This distance would be longer with a 90 or 100mm lens. For outdoor shots of moving subjects I do hand-held exposures at about 1/90 - 1/180 sec and focus manually. In practice, the focusing is done by moving the camera back or forward after setting the desired focus on the lens. Hope this answers your questions sufficiently.

Cheers,
Stephen

[multiweb]

Wow... that brings another question. How do you get the insects to stay still? I'd never get within 5cm of a fly without it flying off unless I wack it in the back of the head first? :lol: