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Damselflies from Saturday
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Some more shots from Saturday in Glendalough. This time all are Damselflies. I used two different lenses for these. As in the last Dragons set I posted. The MP-E 65mm for all flash light shots. The EF 70-200 f4 IS combined with the EF 1.4x II Extender and 500D Diopter for all natural light shots.
Dave OS
Emerald Damselfly (female)- Lestes sponsa
Lense: MP-E 65mm
Exposure: 1/20 sec
Aperture: f/16
Focal Length: 65 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: -2 EV
Flash: Flash fired
Flash: MT-24 EX
FEC: -2/3 EV
Exposure Program: Shutter priority
Emerald Damselfly (female)- Lestes sponsa
Lense: EF 70-200 f4 IS + EF 1.4 Extender + 500D diopter
Exposure: 1/125 sec
Aperture: f/10
Focal Length: 108 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Exposure Program: Manual
Emerald Damselfly (female)- Lestes sponsa
Lense: EF 70-200 f4 IS + EF 1.4 Extender + 500D diopter
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/10
Focal Length: 208 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Exposure Program: Manual
Common Blue Damselfly (male)- Enallagma cyathigerum
Lense: MP-E 65mm
Exposure: 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture: f/16
Focal Length: 65 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: -2 EV
Flash: MT-24 EX
FEC: -2/3 EV
Exposure Program: Shutter priority
Blue-tailed Damselfly (female) – Ischnura elegans
Lense: EF 70-200 f4 IS + EF 1.4 Extender + 500D diopter
Exposure: 1/160 sec
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 141 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
Exposure Program: Manual
Dave
These are really good shots, I particulaly like #2.
And thanks for posting your settings, this makes it useful for the novices like me to learn something.
Amazing detail as usual-
I like the blue one,
but might think about maybe tidying up the left with a little crop-
That lens is definitely working for you,
but I think I might have preferred a little more length in the first-
the reflections in the eye are a little unnatural looking,
but no big deal-Good hunting, well caught-
j
Thanks for the comments PD_BARBS. I think #2 is my favourite too. I usually post the settings when I’m not feeling lazy. I you would like to know the settings of most images posted on the web you can download a program called Panda EXIF 2. Its a free download. It plugs into IE or Firefox. When installed you just have to right click on an image and choose View EXIF.
Hi J. Thanks for the comments. I think you are right about the blue Damsel image. Cloning out the bit on the left would do the pic wonders. I quite like #1 the way it is. I just wanted to post a few different type of shots here. Here is a another image of the same Damsel before I zoomed in.
OUTSTANDING!
These are really superb shots…. & I find it really usefull that you posted the info too…
wow those are some eyes that really grab your attention.
Its hard work getting so much of the insect in focus and you have definately done a good job.Incredible macro work. The level of detail is simply astonishing.
Always a pleasure to view your work…Rob.
I think these shots are simply fantastic. Speaking as someone who works in the wildife field (I am currently doing a dragonfly / damselfly survey of monaghan for example) and who takes a few shots, i am left amazed by the quality.
Although i know that emerald damsels in particular are not that hard to approach, the ability to approach them so close (for the shots of head and thorax – to within a few cm I would guess) and then get the shot so sharp when the grass will be moving and (I assume) no opportunity to use a tripod is very impressive – even with the use of the bamboo trick. And that’s all before you get to the technical bit of taking the shot.
really impressive stuff. I will steel myself and still put up my pics of dragonflies and damselflies even though they are several orders of magnitude away from these!
By the way Dave – the macro flash settings you posted before are working well for me. Thanks. i will post some results some time.
Will
Great detail, great focus, great colour, great technique…… all translates into great pictures.
Thanks eltigre. Finding a good plain of focus is a big part of shooting macro. Makes shooting Damsels more interesting and challenging.
Cheers Rob. I can thank PS3 for a lot of that. :)
Will. Good to hear the Flash settings are working out. I guess they are most effective from lifesize and greater.
emjay… And may I add. A great many dud images deleted too. :)
Dave OS
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