A selection of photos of a dragonfly emerging on a rock in the backyard. It’s part of a larger sequence of 17 images that I’ll put a link to…not sure how I’m going to save them, as individuals, a slide show or both. Moving from water to air makes these guys very vulnerable and their transformations take place in less than an hour. Just a minute or so after the final shot, it gently took to the air. Their first flights are tentative, slow and short. I find them all over the lawn and nearby trees and ferns as they poop out on their maiden voyages.
Anyway, it’s not a time-lapse in the sense that I was on a tripod. Maybe I should have been, but I was sitting on the dock handholding. There are so many of them doing this at the same time that it’s a little overwhelming. I liked this one because it was side on and had some deep shadows behind which really helps it stand out.
In some of the later shots you can see the leg of another that came up right after it. They crawl over and on each other in their single-minded purpose. None seems to mind and they don’t interfere with each other at all. Once they’re airborne though, all bets are off - dragonflies are cannibals. I don’t know if they are as larvae, but in the deeps they are fierce predators and in most species have jaws that spring out forwards like the Alien mother.
On a different note -
One thing I learned recently about Lightroom is that you can move targeted adjustments. Being able to do this saved a lot of time. I would process and then copy those editing values from one shot to the next using a mix of Previous and Sync. Then if the dragonfly was reframed in the shot because of a crop or that I moved, I just dragged the adjustment to where it needed to be (with the overlay showing). Then I could paint more or erase as needed. Very handy.
Specific Feedback Requested
Anyway…I have to explore some features that will help with cropping and alignment. If anyone knows how this can be done and/or automated, let me know. I tightened these up as best I could.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Lumix G9
P/L 100-400mm f/4-6.3 @ 400mm most of the time (800mm equiv.)
f/6.3 to 13 depending
1/800 & 1/1000 sec mostly
ISO 400
Processed in Lr for white & black points, taming some highlights (polarizing filter not effective with this angle of sun), cropping, local adjustments on rock, bug & background, sharpening & nr.
Oh wow, Kris, this is just amazing. I haven’t been around a pond when any of these have morphed. So I have only enjoyed the DF as it flies around, perches, and yes, even photographed one eating the other once. They do have some jaws like no other. Captured one eating a moth last year.
The process seems so strange to me, but it is nature in process, and I’m so glad you were able to capture this series. I didn’t see a link, so maybe you haven’t made that happen yet.
As for LR, I have used the Sync option to save me on similar images. You can uncheck the crop feature (or any others you wish not to copy), but that is the only thing I know about that feature.
Very well done, and perfect for the WC. Thank you for sharing this, and you comments about the process as well.
Thanks Shirley. It is quite an experience to see this en masse.
Unfortunately I think the thunderstorm wiped out a lot. The air above the back lawn should be thick with them by now and it isn’t. What the hail and rain didn’t kill directly, predators did since they were too weak and wet or injured to fly. Bummer.
Here’s a link to the gallery of the rest of the shots. You can view as a slide show there. I will play with the Slideshow function in Lightroom, too.
Thanks @Shirley - I’m glad you enjoyed them and I hope your husband did, too. I even shot some video of this one at the same time as the stills. Got it just easing that tail out of the exoskeleton - surprisingly graceful. Wrenching their shoulders out of there seems like an effort.
I bet the moth as lunch pics are interesting. If you have them hosted anywhere I’d love to see.
In re the cropping, sync works to put your crop at the same coordinates as another shot, but it doesn’t necessarily line up any objects to be at a consistent position within the frame. That’s what I want the software to do for me. It would probably lean heavily on AI though and I’m not sure it’s there yet. Eyeballing it isn’t exact without some way to mark or overlay the shots.
Kris, this is a fine sequence capturing the emergence of this dragonfly. Catching the wings expanding is always a treat and you show that well here. It’s also neat that you get so many at the same time.
