wasp and dragonfly

[WillW]

July 26, 2008 at 11:14 am

Hi all

below – a wasp using ringflash. i haven’t figured out using the flash on manual yet but will persevere. I find that the flash is too fierce for my liking on alot of the shots, I need to play with manual settings to see what I can do. Any comments / advice?
Image info – f22 1/200th sec, ringflash fired

F5 1/60th, ringflash fired

Common darter dragonfly. Not strictly macro but I quite like the ‘peeking’ and colours. Any comments / advice?
f4.5 1/400th sec, natural light

Many thanks all

Will

[shutterbug]

July 26, 2008 at 7:42 pm

They look good, I especially like the bees, the first shot is my favourite,
might crop a bit off the top of the second bee shot, pity the reed is in front
of the dragonfly’s face, hav’nt used ring flash so cant really comment on
that but to me they look great.

[oshead]

July 27, 2008 at 12:24 am

I like the second shot the best. Though the light seems a little flat. You could try setting the ratios on the flash to 2:1 and twist it 90 degrees so the top light is the stronger of the two.

#3 is a good natural light image ruined my the stem of the reed. Pity, I know how difficult it is to get close to these guys. Better luck next time.

#1 potentially could be the best shot of the set, but I don’t like the black background. It overwhelms the image. A lighter background would work well on this.

All in all a nice set. :)

Dave OS

[WillW]

July 27, 2008 at 7:01 pm

thanks very much folks

I agree on the background on the first one – shame since I quite like the symmetrical stance of the wasp. the background is simply a product of me having a new falsh for one day and not understanding it!

Dave – very useful tip on ring flash techniques (in this and other post). many thanks, i will try tomorrow.

On the subject of the dragonfly – it’s very difficult to get the real dragonflies (rather than the damselflies) in a head on position since you would need for them to be at the top of a stem. If they are at the top of the stem then they tend to be fully alert (and up to temperature) and almost impossible to approach. the photo above was in dull conditions and low down in the foliage. Damselflies are easier like the blue tailed damselfly below (I realised that I had messed up all todays shots by forgetting my camera was set on ISO400 – oops). One of the reasons I like head on photos of dragonflies is the two-tone eyes.

Of course there are tricks to taking photos of dragonflies but I don’t like them so i’ll keep stalking them naturally and trusting to luck!

thanks again

Will