Needham Skimmer Dragonfly images from a previous trip to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, outside Cambridge, Maryland. The featured image is a Needham Skimmer Dragonfly made from 3 images, focused at 3 different focus areas on the dragonfly and blended in Photoshop. I focused on near wingtip, body, then far wingtip. Even at f/14 with a 300mm lens I only needed 3 focus areas to get a sharp dragonfly from wingtip to wingtip and still have a smoother background. If I stopped down more I would get a more distracting backgrounds, so focus stacking helps the dragonfly stand out more.
Such beutiful wings and colourful body, and sharp to. Good performance!
Thanks Hans! They are fun photo subjects!
Lovely colourful set Reed, I’m impressed with the focus stacking you must be quick to get those shots off before they move.
Thanks so much! I find it easier to not use a tripod. So it is a quick series of images manually focused on the areas I need. Then loading the images into one layered file in Photoshop. Auto-align, then auto blend. So it is actually quite easy to do after you have done a few!
Gorgeous colour and sharpness!
Thanks Belinda! They are fun to do!
Spectacular shots, Reed, the colors and details are stunning!
Thanks Donna! They are colorful dragonflies!!😊