Dragonflies mating

Dalantech

Hello everyone -this is my first post. I've been shooting macro since February of this year and my favorite subject is dragonflies. On the way home from work I pass by a lake that's in the middle of an inactive volcano (Lago de'Averno) and I try to stop and shoot 3 times a week. The area is loaded with at least 3 different species of dragonflies and one species of Damselflies. I've experimented with a Canon 100mm macro + tubes + teleconverters, but this week I decided to drop back to the bare lens and see just how close I could get. Here is one of the shots from last Friday taken with a Canon 20D + 100mm macro lens. Minimal post processing (I like to do as much as possible with the camera) and no cropping:



I was less than 12 inches away from them

Here is a link to the image in my gallery: http://dalantech.smugmug.com/gallery/1467293/7/75822306

Dalantech

I just noticed the "other cool shots forum"

Moderator: Please move this post -and sorry for posting in the wrong forum

Andy

welcome to dgrin, excellent first post!

USAIR

Good shot and welcome to Dgrin
I sometimes use the 70-200 with ext tubes

Thanks
Fred

Dalantech

Andy wrote:

welcome to dgrin, excellent first post!

Thanks Andy :

Dalantech

USAIR wrote:

Good shot and welcome to Dgrin
I sometimes use the 70-200 with ext tubes

Thanks
Fred

I've been thinking about getting a lens in that range and then adding a diopter and / or a 1.4 teleconverter for shooting butterflies. I can get very close to dragons with time and a lot of patience, but filming butterflies in the wild is even more difficult. Here's one of my better shots:



Again: minimal post processing and no cropping -the only crop I allow myself to use is the viewfinder. I found this little guy in an abandoned lot not far from my apartment.

Dalantech

Here is another dragon from Lago de'Averno -a Violet Darter. This species is currently mating, so it's getting even more skittish (one of my goals for this season is to film a mating pair, but so far no luck). With dragons the males always emerge from the water first and then wait for the females. Both the Black Tailed Skimmers (the mating dragons in the first post) and the Violet Darters like to perch on the ground, but lately they are moving into the reeds and grape vines around the lake.



Here's the link to the image in my gallery: http://dalantech.smugmug.com/gallery/1467293/7/75825447

Lord Vetinari

Excellent shots- Dragons are one of my favourite bugs.
Brian V

Dalantech

Lord Vetinari wrote:

Excellent shots- Dragons are one of my favourite bugs.
Brian V

LordV is in the house! :

Thanks for the props

Skippy

Hi there Dalantech

Dalantech wrote:

Hello everyone -this is my first post. I've been shooting macro since February of this year and my favorite subject is dragonflies. On the way home from work I pass by a lake that's in the middle of an inactive volcano (Lago de'Averno) and I try to stop and shoot 3 times a week. The area is loaded with at least 3 different species of dragonflies and one species of Damselflies. I've experimented with a Canon 100mm macro + tubes + teleconverters, but this week I decided to drop back to the bare lens and see just how close I could get. Here is one of the shots from last Friday taken with a Canon 20D + 100mm macro lens. Minimal post processing (I like to do as much as possible with the camera) and no cropping:

I was less than 12 inches away from them

Here is a link to the image in my gallery: http://dalantech.smugmug.com/gallery/1467293/7/75822306

Welcome to the forum......... quite a few folks here are into Macro, I really like it too, and Dragonflies are something I always long to find, however you just don't see them around where I live.

The 100mm Macro is a wonderful lens and I have that one myself, it is one I use most often, and I too have Extentions that I use as well.

Nice shot you got there of the dragonflies, don't you just love the heads on these little critters ........those two you have there look a decent size too ......keep posting.... Skippy (Australia)

Skippy

This is a Beauty Too

Dalantech wrote:

I've been thinking about getting a lens in that range and then adding a diopter and / or a 1.4 teleconverter for shooting butterflies. I can get very close to dragons with time and a lot of patience, but filming butterflies in the wild is even more difficult. Here's one of my better shots:
Again: minimal post processing and no cropping -the only crop I allow myself to use is the viewfinder. I found this little guy in an abandoned lot not far from my apartment.

Very nicely done .......Skippy (Australia)

Dalantech

Skippy wrote:

Welcome to the forum......... quite a few folks here are into Macro, I really like it too, and Dragonflies are something I always long to find, however you just don't see them around where I live.

The 100mm Macro is a wonderful lens and I have that one myself, it is one I use most often, and I too have Extentions that I use as well.

Nice shot you got there of the dragonflies, don't you just love the heads on these little critters ........those two you have there look a decent size too ......keep posting.... Skippy (Australia)

Thanks!

Dalantech

Skippy wrote:

Very nicely done .......Skippy (Australia)

Thanks again