It is the last day of my vacation, the last warm day for the summer and it is also the anniversary of my arrival in Finland, a full 17 years ago. This vacation has been among the most work-filled in history and there has been very little time to relax - I don't feel well rested at all - but it is going to get very busy at work for the next month or so and I am guessing I am just going to have to keep on keeping on.
My relaxation activity for the day (I have been trying to take hours here and there) was to head down toward the lake and chase the dragon. There was no heroin involved (though that would have likely relaxed me more) of course, yet this was another experience I have never done before - trying to get a good photograph of a dragonfly. As far as I remember, I have never taken a picture of a dragonfly with a proper camera before and it is a bit of a challenge, as they are skittish at best.
Where I was sitting had dozens of them flying around of different varieties, with the larger ones never landing anywhere near me, so the only picture I got of one of the larger ones was it flying away from me - not exactly "epic" by any measure.
I was shooting mainly with a 60mm macro which required me getting pretty close and since I had sat down there for an hour and hadn't got one decent shot, I started taking pictures of other random bugs I came across.
Dragonflies are pretty cool looking insects in a world of cool looking insects. I reckon that the structural details of insects is pretty damn amazing and have no doubt been instrumental in inspiring creatives to design and imagine from. Sci-fi art and movies owe a great deal to the design of insects, as they can essentially be copy-pasted straight into a work and immediately look alien. Make them a little bigger and they would be terrifying.
It wasn't easy for me to get pictures, but I think that toward the end I was starting to understand them a bit better and was able to get into position a little easier. I was positioned beside a little stream that runs into the lake, and the ground was marshy.I wasn't really dressed for the occasion however, so I didn't get too muddy in the process. I think to get some decent shots, I would have to be laying down more so as to shoot sideways or from slightly below.
The other trouble I had was getting a decent focus on the eyes, as they always seemed a little out of focus. When I looked at the pictures later though, they are in focus (generally), but the compound structure of this particular variety I could get a shot of is quite fine grained and my hand is far from surgical.
I took a couple hundred images, but I grabbed a selection from my camera onto my phone for a crop. I think there are better ones left on the table, but I would need more time to go through them and I will have to get back to work very soon, so it can wait. I have a lot of images "waiting" for me to have a better look at them.
The other challenge with dragonflies is that they are so long and have such a wide wingspan, it is hard to get a nice focal position (for me) as obviously having the eyes in focus is important, but the wings with their veins have a lovely fine texture that adds another layer to the image, especially since they are so transparent. Nature is filled with amazing design choices.
Now, to finish off, I don't know if this one is NSFW or not, but I think it is at least a potential talking point. I don't know what kind of mushroom this is, but I don't think I will google search it.
Now get this - I spent over two hours getting bitten by mosquitoes to get these images and they are pretty meh, in my opinion - but when I got home, my wife (who didn't know what I was doing) had taken the shot below of a freakin' gold dragonfly that flew and sat beside her for a half hour, while she ate lunch in the sun...
I mean, C'mon....
Well, at least I had a somewhat relaxing (and frustrating) time chasing the dragon for a few hours and I think that I might head out again some time, weather permitting. It will be getting significantly cooler and wetter now though, so I am not sure how much opportunity there will be before next summer rolls around.
To celebrate being in Finland for long enough to almost be of drinking age, I might fire up the barbie and make grill some burgers in the evening. It would also be a decent way to end the vacation and the last of the warm weather for the year.
Hope you liked the images today - the mosquitoes liked me taking them.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Mosquitoes are very annoying... The buzzing sound trips me off. They suck blood comfortably from your skin...
Besides dragonflies are very perfect for fiction. They fly up and down at almost any altitude... You know like a chopper, airplane or whatever it is.
When I was quite younger we were told that dragonflies symbolized self realization and maturity because they only ate when the flew.
So that meant that no flight,no food.
These are amazing photos you have taken
Hope you enjoyed vacation.
The big ones can go quite high I think - the smaller tend to stay close to the ground. these are the smaller ones.
Hey, that is a cool concept - I like it a lot!
Vacation was mostly manual labor-filled on the house - but better than doing that plus work.
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Yes...we were told so that it could motivate us to do better at whatever we wanted.
My oldest cousin would say " you see...life is not a bed of roses, nothing's easy.
Do not be wasteful."
Work hard - but work at the right things to get you to where you want to be.
ENGAGEtokens.Well someone chose the right place, the right time, and had a camera with them. your wife got a very nice shot. Your were good also, I like the one on what looked like a wood railing, where you could see the wing shadow. Something so clear and transparent yet still casting a cool shadow. Your lens/camera combo do a good job at the fine details, I liked how on the bee you could see the belly hairs sticking out to the side, and the same on some of the dragonfly shots where you could see the fine hairs.
I don't think I have any dragon fly pictures, we do get them in Alaska, just not a lot of them.
bloody phone camera too....
I like the hairy ones too - not in a sexual way though.
Probably if there are some marshlands or still water lakes/rivers.
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ENGAGEtokens.Mosquitoes have a way of honing in when outdoors... females, always sucking you blood!
Dragonflies and others all awesome to see, epic photography!
Normally I am not the target of choice, but with no one else around, they had to make do with what was on offer.
Not sure about epic, but it was a lot of fun to be out there.
Well at least I am always first on the mosquitoes hit list... #1 in something!
Close and personal.... I call epic photography looking into eyes so close, well epic!
I have heard that some blood types are more attractive than others - I am Australian, so my blood is full of BBQ
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ENGAGEtokens.I would say maybe you should haqve stayed home but then you wouldn't have gotten all those other cool shots XD
Starship Troopers was full of giant insects. That's pretty much all I remember as the over the top gore bored me so much I walked out to go play on my computer after not that long XD
Starship troopers was a funny movie - it had doogie howser in it :D
Giger took a lot f inspiration from bugs for his Aliens too - and I am pretty sure that if we had a ölook at a lot of the space movies - there would be a lot of insectish stuff to be seen.
Lemon Grass oil is your friend. Spritz a little on your exposed body parts and the mosquitoes will go looking for a better target. At least that's the theory.
The problem with chasing the real dragon is that Heroin can relax you so much you forget to breathe. Better to chase the ones you did.
You took some great photos, but I'm really impressed with your wife's shot. Sometimes accidental photography is the best.
Sorry about the end of Vacation and summer the same weekend. I guess that is somehow fitting...
I think I would then have to dance naked under the full moon ;D
With all the work I have to do, speed is probably a better choice.
Would be nice if she posted here instead of to the other crappy places she does...
I think I would then have to dance naked under the full moon ;D
If you spray with lemon grass oil you won't have mosquito bites on your 'exposed parts' Just sayin'
I could do with a little extra swelling
Well then, dance away without protection my friend.
Making use of that new toy I see. I do like a dragonfly and have recently been snapping a few shots of them.. How bloody annoying that you put in all that time and get home to the wife's photo:) Fair play to her, a cool looking critter indeed.
They are hard to get as they seem pretty aware - but I think a large part of my issue is that I don't "understand them" yet.
I think it could have ended here ;D
Have you told the wife that shed you built in your time off is for her to stay in if she keeps showing you up:)
I've taken dozens and still not hit the perfect shot. These are two of my fave's so far, DOF too shallow though.
She would be in the shed all the time....
Wow, they are really nice and the flowing lines of the second are awesome!
I would like to say it was all planned but mostly luck, Getting the buggers to hang around long enough is the big challenge.
Hahaha. An excellent metaphor for life, @tarazkp! Sometimes some people will work hard and achieve their goals, others will simply find it easier to get what they want. Maybe there is some luck in the things we set out to do, but there must always be work. If you hadn't gone out looking for that much-desired dragonfly picture, you would never have had the amount of interesting images you shared with us. No one guarantees that the dragonfly will come and pose quietly in front of your camera, as it did for your wife. That's lucky! ;) Nice Friday and greetings
I think that I am due a little bit of luck! :D
For sure - getting out and about is a necessity for opportunity.
Dragonflies look amazing, I like seing pictures with them! 17 years is a long time, congratulations on that!
Me too and I am not sure it is a congratulations thing - the tickets back to Australia are just so expensive I can't leave ;D
Ah I can only imagine how many flights you would have to change to get there.
These days, it would probably include boats and helicopter rides :D
I would pick the boat😁
It may sound crazy but if you just sit and talk to them a bit they may allow you the shot you want. Others just don't like to be bothered and will leave. Think of them as faeries of varying species.
I did use me telepathic skills toward the end, but I felt like I was cheating ;)
I do think this!
The ending is hilarious xD It's always like that somehow! You took awesome photos, but sorry that gold one is just next level :D
The gold one is awesome - I would love to get a great photo of that sucker!
That photo before the line "It wasn't easy for me to get pictures" looks like an old Spiderman movie poster, lol!
Chasing after bugs with macro lenses are usually rewarding as we hardly ever see with our naked eyes how intricate their structures are.
:D it does!
I like macro a lot and if there is one lens I'd add to my collection, it would be a longer macro.
Amazing macro photos
love the nature
you have great capture
greetings from venezuela
Hi and thanks :)
Very beautiful and bright photos. It's hard work to create such photos, it takes a lot of attention and patience. You did very well. Macro photography has always been considered professional photography. Thanks you.
I don't know about hard, but it is time consuming at least :)
Thank you for responding to my comment. I am very pleased. I will follow your updates. Good luck to you.
I try to respond to everyone - welcome :)
Lol. Chasing dragon flies definitely does not sound relaxing at all. I stamd to be corrected though. But as always the pictures are excellent. Seeing macro photography in a new light now thanks to you.
It is relaxing to do stuff that one enjoys, even if it isn't physically or mentally easy. I think a lot of people mistake relaxing as sitting on the couch. :)
I've had some experiments with dragonflies. I admit they are completely difficult. Despite this difficulty, there are great photos. congratulations my dear friend. and I would never want to see these bugs in a big way. :)
Thanks - I have liked a lot of the dragonfly photos I have seen, so perhaps will one day get one of my own to keep :)
That lake is an insect paradise but I guess the dragonfly knew well who was having lunch 😂
Yeah - I am not sure if she fed it (can you feed dragonflies?) but it was there a long time begging.
These photos are great! Unfortunately I am not successful in taking insect photos. I have no choice but to look at successful photos. :D
You just have to get close enough :) Bees are good subjects - flies are easier :)
I guess I should go for a walk in the forest with my macro lens and phone!
Absolutely. It doesn't take much to get into macro photography - be careful :D
I will be. :D
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ENGAGEtokens.Here you have good photos, yes, I agree that dragonflies are interesting insects, predators and cannibals, I heard/read that women eat their husbands after mating ...😗😋
Wouldn't be a bad way to go perhaps ;D
Haha, you're right. Or vice versa :D
;D lols
Enjoy your writing and the photos! And as much as I liked your photos, wow, that final one, by your wife, wow! What kind of camera or phone model was she using? Macro or main but cropped?
We very often spend a lot of time looking for something "special", missing something "beautiful" that is nearby.