photoartflightBlue Dasher Dragonfly Focus Stacks
Here are two different Blue Dasher focus stacks. The featured image is made with 3 images. First image is focused on the head, then fore wings & then front of the hind wings. I was using a 300mm f/4 lens on a Canon 7D with a 1.4x teleconverter. I loaded each image into a layered Photoshop file and let a Photoshop align & blend the sharpest areas. The second image I wanted to mainly focus on the face but the plant was in the same focus plane as the face. I thought that might reinforce the roundness of the dragonfly head because of the roundness of the plant. I was shooting @ f/ 5.6 for a shallow depth of field. I then focused on the fore wing because I wanted a sharp edge on the fore wing and let the rest go softer into the darker background.
photoartflight 
It looks like it is giving the camera a cheesy grin. 😉 The seed head looks a bit like a famous virus that is currently wreaking havoc around the world. Not surprising that we see the similarity, eh?
Yes! Seemed like a happy dragonfly! I agree!!
Both are terrific!
Thanks Belinda! They are fun to do!
Love these shots, Reed. The dragonfly is cool-looking and the plant on which he is perched is fascinating. Were you using a tripod for these shots? When I am shooting dragonflies I am usually hand-holding and I wonder if it is feasible to attempt to do focus stacking while hand-holding.
Thanks Mike! In my old age😊 I am getting lazy! 95% of my shots are handheld. Just pick an f/stop you want for a smoother background, then shoot a series of manually focused areas. Load those files into a layered Photoshop file. Then select all the layers, auto align, then auto blend. That is a quick explanation so I will do a post today showing the steps. There are a few options so I will include screen grabs. I have used Photoshop since 1990 so I tend to automatically do certain steps without thinking about it.
These are stunning, Reed, I think it has every color of the rainbow!
Thanks so much Donna! Not Bald Eagles! But still some of my favorite photo subjects!😊
You did a good job with your focus stacking. 2020 is stacking up to be a good year for you with that technique.
Actually being retired now it gives me something more to do besides taking a nap! But I do like doing them for some reason!