I hadn’t realized how many exuvia were all over the dead reeds when I was shooting 4 days ago. It will be hot enough today to hope for more action so I’ll be heading out again.
Specific Feedback Requested
All comments welcome!
Technical Details
Canon R5, 100-500 + 2X at 1000. ISO 800, f/14, 1/400 sec. Focus stack of maybe 12-15 at closest spacing. Shadows brought up in LR and into Zerene Stacker. Then very minor retouching in PS, mostly for a couple of bright BG spots. This must be a young one as the abdomen doesn’t have the chalky look yet.
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Hi Diane,
Overall, a very nice combination of colors between subject and BG. The wings are nice and crisp and the details are excellent. I would like to see more of the head so a lateral and or frontal view would show off this dragonfly. I find a spot inside the dragonfly’s territory with favorable light and wait. Once they have a favorite perch, they will revisit constantly. Best poses are right after landing or before takeoff. Well done and hope you get some more shots of these dragonflies…Jim
Thanks @Jim_Zablotny – I’ll have more to post, for sure, with different poses. I bring a long stick with a hook on the end and when it leaves the perch I can sometimes reach out and rearrange the BG slightly. The bank here is steep and I can’t get as close as I’d like, but this is the best spot to shoot for light and wind break.
Nice details in the dragonfly and it’s wings, Diane. I too would rather it be face on or side view, but nature doesn’t always cooperate for us photographers. I hadn’t even given a hook a thought to rearrange the BG a bit. Good idea. I haven’t had a chance to try the focus stacking on the R5 yet, but you sure have made it look desirable.
Hi Diane, another fine image. While seeing more of the head is desirable, I love seeing the details of the upper thorax - you captured this so well. Fine details throughout. How do you get your dragons to hold still for focus stacking? Mine twitch around and blow in the breeze, etc., etc.
Nice image!
Additional thanks, @Shirley_Freeman and @Allen_Sparks! Allen, getting them still is luck. I wait till right after a twitch and shoot a burst at 20 fps. (Usually set to shoot 25 at the closest spacing, and with the 100-500 + 2X, wide open is f/14, which seems to give steps that are close enough. Or course a 100mm macro would be better if I could get that close.) They twitch a lot and the slightest twitch will register as an artifact in the stack. Sometimes the stack is good but often I’ll need to go to one of the subs and layer in a masked wingtip or something, in PS. Slight movement of the reed from a breeze will be compensated for by Zerene if the BG is OOF enough.
When I get back to the computer, there are a lot of subs to go through to try to find the best ones. LR can stack (in its use of the term) each burst, which makes it a little easier.
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