Howdy,
Despite working long hours and overtime this week, I managed to get out to the garden and even the state park for a little macro photography. The dragonflies have been particularly good models, allowing me to even get up to the closest focusing distance in some cases. It's hard to focus that close. Even the slightest breeze throws everything off, and my lens isn't stabilized.
Tight Crop
The Canon RP makes it a lot easier than it was with the old 7D, though. Canon has just released two new cameras with in-body stabilization, but they're more geared toward video shooting. I'm holding out for the rumored high resolution stills camera that is supposed to come out next year.
Anyway, back to the dragon flies...
"Leaf me alone!"
There are at least two species that call the garden their home, this year. One is black with red markings and red banded wings. The other is yellow. Both seem to have the "jewel" marking on the leading edge of their wings, near the tips.
Flashing some leg
They really are quite stunning to see close-up. The tight crop in the first image makes him look like a grizzled old chap.
Waiting for supper to fly by
Of course, it's not all dragonflies. The state park had a lot of those, too, but they were much less cooperative than the ones in the garden. It might have had something to do with my needing to swat away the mosquitos. Still, you would think they would have appreciated their supper coming delivery.
"George."
The last photo may have cost me a pint of blood. Mosquitos have some demonic ability to sense when you're trying to take a photo and unable to swat them. If anyone knows where I can get a dozen trained tree frogs to stick on my neck, I would be very appreciative!
It's officially the weekend, now, and I intend to enjoy it. Next stop: beer!
Thank you for taking a look! If you enjoy my work, please click the upvote button. Comments are also greatly appreciated.
Ever since Disney gave the dragon flys the "cool" factor, I don't even mind them buzzing my head with their paper-like wings :) Always love your posts!
If you have a Mark's near you or get the urge to order online, this might save you from donating to the local mosquito's lol. (my step-son swears by this brand of clothing to ward off bugs) https://www.marks.com/en/search.html?lang=en;q=bug%20repellent%20clothing;q1=c_mens_2076694223;x1=c.category-level-1
I don't think anything can dissuade Minnesota mosquitoes from biting, except maybe a flamethrower. Going out to the countryside to see the comet last night was amazing, but I paid dearly in blood and sleep deprivation. I've never heard of Mark's, but everything I have is technically Mark's :-)
Haha, too funny!
Nice dragons! I see you getting some good time in with your new toy. I like how you can see all the details in the eyes of the first photo. Stabilizing lens are the best, nice that you can get in build into the camera now. My preferred lenses are stabilized I do have a few that are not but they are not for macro, more landscape. If you go in the morning, the dragonflies are wet and don't fly around as much...probably less blood suckers around too. Enjoy your beer and week-end!
It's not easy to tell unless you see the full-res images, but the focus on all of these is right on the eye. They look amazing when you're close enough to see all that eye detail.
Canon supposedly has a stabilized macro in the works and I can't wait. They just released one, but it the one I'm after. 1:2 isn't close enough. I'm hoping the next will be 1:1 or better.
I bet it looks amazing in high resolution! Take your time, gear is too expensive to get something inadequate for your wants/needs! It's a fairly new technology I'm sure it will just take time for all the bells and whistles to be just right and on the market. Hopefully you don't have to wait too much longer.
Fabulous macros! I think dragonflies are so fascinating. I love the one that looks like it's made of gold . Great shot of that mosquito too. Nasty things
Thanks! The best part is that we have so many dragonflies in the front yard, I can sit outside without worrying about mosquitos.
That last one was actually some sort of weird fly. It's hard to tell scale with macro, but it was probably about 3/4" long.