Dragonflys in flight

matthewo · Sep 18, 2013

I don't think I ever saw these large dragonfly actually land. it seems like they were always flying. they are about twice the size of the normal dragonfly I see

I had a good response over at FM when I posted these, so I figured I would put them up here as well. I was using my trusty 500mm lens and flash on bracket and monopod, out in nature. most were taken from 1/6400 or 1/8000 and f8 or f10 & 1600-2000 iso, all where cropped a good deal as well.

baturn · Sep 18, 2013

Amazing, especially the last one.

Heitz · Sep 18, 2013

How the hell did you focus on that!

coastalconn · Sep 18, 2013

Super duper WOW!! These are incredible and the last one is downright unreal!!!

weepete · Sep 19, 2013

They are awesome shots, wow!

sm4him · Sep 19, 2013

:hail:

Stunning.
That last one...Wow. Just. WOW.

matthewo · Sep 19, 2013

thanks guys, Im glad you like them, it was frustrating at times chasing them with the big lens, but rewarding when I actually focused on them

jwbryson1 · Sep 19, 2013

Awesome. Very very good. I'm blown away.

cgipson1 · Sep 19, 2013

Fun, isn't it! If you catch them at the end of their zig-zag pattern, you have a little time to focus! I need to get out and shoot some more of these! Nicely done!

sm4him · Sep 19, 2013

I've managed to catch a few from the side, though nothing as nice and sharp as these. But that last one, coming straight at you?? Man, that is just....that is POTM material is what that is. So I nominated it.

NancyMoranG · Sep 19, 2013

You did a great job cloning out the strings they are hanging from, I can't even tell they are fake.
Ok, this is stupendous, I think a lot of the other words have been taken..
wow,
Nancy

Luke345678 · Sep 19, 2013

Wow, that would drive me crazy. Very awesome shots!

Low_Sky · Sep 19, 2013

Matthewo, these are great. Would you mind explaining your technique to a noob who has tried and failed miserably at this sort of thing? My few efforts have been with a 300mm lens on a crop sensor camera, handheld, continuous shutter mode, and I haven't even been able to track them in the viewfinder. I'd love some pointers if you have any to give.

Sent from my phone with my giant, uncoordinated sausage thumbs.

matthewo · Sep 20, 2013

Well I did use a monopod, not sure that would help much on a smaller lens, but for me standing for a while in one area with the heavy lens it did help. or use a tripod. I think the best thing working for me was a good deal of these dragonflys that fly into the area I was pointing my camera. I would say there were 5-10 in a larger area, then they would fly into an area I had my camera pointed at. sometimes they would hover for a few seconds, and move around slowly not darting which enabled me to point the lens and manually focus. sometimes I would use autofocus as well to lock on exact focus if I was close. if you have close focus on them autofocus seemed to grab on most of the time. I didn't use continuous shutter, I just clicked a few when I knew it was in focus.

maybe I just was lucky at the time, to have a few dragonflys stick around hovering and or moving slow enough for me to take the photo. I used the same kind of technique I would use for a small fast moving bird that is almost always moving about. just pick one you think is moving slow enough and follow it and hope for the best.