First dragonfly of the year

Lord Vetinari

Got my first dragonfly of the year in the garden yesterday and it was a broad bodied chaser, haven't had one of these around for a few years. All shots natural strong sunlight/fill flash.

brian v.

Wil Davis

Very nice, Brian! My favourites are #s 2, 3, & 4. It amazes me that you get such consistently fabulous results; you can even see (#2) that the darned thing forgot to shave this morning; outstanding!

Thanks for showing -

- Wil

Lord Vetinari

Wil Davis wrote:

Very nice, Brian! My favourites are #s 2, 3, & 4. It amazes me that you get such consistently fabulous results; you can even see (#2) that the darned thing forgot to shave this morning; outstanding!

Thanks for showing -

- Wil

Thanks Wil - I did take a lot of shots of this DF as I hadn't seen this species for a few years.
Brian V.

Skippy

Lord Vetinari wrote:

Got my first dragonfly of the year in the garden yesterday and it was a broad bodied chaser, haven't had one of these around for a few years. All shots natural strong sunlight/fill flash.

brian v.

I've not seen one of these before Brian,
the body width is like double that of other species of Dragonflies.

Sort of looks abnormal to see such a wide body on a dragonfly.
Yet the wing span does not look like it would compensate for the extra weight.

It's odd looking .... thanks for sharing Brian .... Skippy
.

Lord Vetinari

Thanks for the comments Skippy- agree doesn't look quite as elegant as many other dragons but I was very happy to see it
Brian V.

MadisonPhotography

Great shots
I have fishing a lot lately and noticed the dragonflys are out....

I'd love to know more about your setup....

Nick

Lord Vetinari

MadisonPhotography wrote:

I have fishing a lot lately and noticed the dragonflys are out....

I'd love to know more about your setup....

Nick

Nick - was using a 350D/sigma 105/430Ex flash rig on LHS in shot below.
You don't really need a macro lens for DF shots- longer telephotos can be used with either a closeup diopter or some ext tubes. Was using a bean pole for stabilistion
Brian v.

MadisonPhotography

Thanks
I love that setup, especially the duct tape.....I have a Canon 100 macro and have taken some okay shots but really want to be able to do the "bug eyes" and "fly legs" shots....is the ring flash a must?

Lord Vetinari

MadisonPhotography wrote:

I love that setup, especially the duct tape.....I have a Canon 100 macro and have taken some okay shots but really want to be able to do the "bug eyes" and "fly legs" shots....is the ring flash a must?

A flash is fairly essential for getting higher magnification detail to show up on at least live insects, but as you can see I just use normal flash guns on a bracket with a DIY difffuser. Ring flashes obviusly have the light in the right place but it's much harder to diffuse well.
Brian V.

vegasdesertfox

Hey LV, could you please, throw me some more tidbits on your flash setup and the DIY diffuser? Out here in the land where the sun always shines, we don't ever get a lot of bugs but I really like your set-up. Next spring I'll be ready thanks in advance!

Lord Vetinari

vegasdesertfox wrote:

Hey LV, could you please, throw me some more tidbits on your flash setup and the DIY diffuser? Out here in the land where the sun always shines, we don't ever get a lot of bugs but I really like your set-up. Next spring I'll be ready thanks in advance!

Info on the diffuser here http://www.flickr.com/groups/macroviewers/discuss/72157594312315664/

Flash is just bracket mounted using an off camera cord. I use 430Ex flash guns on both my rigs now and normally shoot in ETTL mode. The bracket allows me to keep the diffuser near the end of the lens as the lens extends by rotating the ballhead and straightening the flash. The brackets are also a bit DIY but the Hakuba LH-1 ballhead bracket (Ebay) is similar but generally advise the replacement of the ballhead on that with a larger cheapo generic one with a 1/4" male thread fitting.

Brian v.

amg2833

The fourth and last ones are my favorite.

Great to get a look at your gear, Lord V. Any insight is tons of help.

KellyC

Nice pics, my wife loves dragonflies, but I can never seem to get the to 'pose' for me.

Kelly

Lord Vetinari

Thanks for the comments Kelly

I actually purposely have some canes around the garden for them to perch on.
Brian V.