photoartflightBlue Dasher Dragonflies
Posted on September 10, 2022
Dragonfly season will soon be ending but here are a series of Blue Dasher Dragonfly images from a series of different outings. The Featured Image was taken with a Canon 400mm DO lens on a Canon 1D mkIV, @f/8, 1/400 sec.
Twelve-Spotted Skimmer Dragonfly Images
Posted on July 6, 2022
A series of Twelve-Spotted Skimmer Dragonfly images taken with a Canon 400mm DO lens with an Extension Tube added for closer focusing on a Canon 1D mkIV. I was also using a Canon 600EX-RT Flash with a Better Beamer Flash Extender for filling in the shadows & to get more detail on the Dragonfly. All images are full frame, not cropped. I was shooting @ f/8 or f/11 for a smoother clean background.
Osprey FlyBy @ Blackwater NWR
Posted on July 2, 2022
A series of images of a close Osprey flyBy at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge Maryland.
All images were taken with a Canon 1D mkIV with a 1.4x Teleconverter.
A Series Of Blue Dasher Dragonfly Images
Posted on June 30, 2022
A series of Blue Dasher Dragonfly images taken over a few years. The Featured Image was taken a few years ago and is a 2 image focus blend with a Canon 400mm DO lens on a Canon 7D and a small amount of Fill Flash to brighten the shadows. Subject Dragonfly was 16.7 ft away. When using Teleconverters I usually set my f/stop 2 stops down from wide open for a little more depth of field for sharpness but still have a smoother background. So using my 300mm f/4 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter the lens wide open would be @ f/5.6 because of the teleconverter. So I would set my f/stop @ f/11. If I was using my 400mm f/4 lens with a teleconverter I would probably stop down even more but not always.
Birds Settling Down At Sunset @ Ding Darling NWR
Posted on June 18, 2022
A couple of colorful sunset images of birds settling down for the evening. I am going through my array of Back-Up Drives making room for newer images and discarding ones I do not need. But along the way I am finding interesting images to post here. Also I am just selecting the best images when I was shooting a series of the bird flying in, etc. then deleting the extra files. The images here were taken many years ago. We were on our way out on the Ding Darling NWR Wildlife Drive as we passed these groups. The Featured Image of the Great Egret landing was taken with a 400mm DO Lens on a Canon 7D @ 6:48. The Group of Wood Storks was taken from the same spot but more to the right 3 minutes later @ 6:51 because I was waiting for a better grouping as they were moving. The distance to both groups were 236 feet according to the Adobe Camera Raw data. Then we had to get going to leave because they were closing and wanted everyone out.
Black Skimmer FlyBys & Skimming @ Brigantine Division
Posted on June 17, 2022
A series of images of Black Skimmers flying and skimming from previous trips to the Brigantine Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR in Oceanville, NJ. The Featured image was taken with a Canon 1D mkIV with a 400mm DO lens & 1.4x Teleconverter
Dragonfly Closeup With Telephoto lenses
Posted on June 11, 2022
The Featured Image is a closeup image of a male Blue Dasher Dragonfly resting on a stem. Image taken with a 400mm Canon DO lens with extension tubes to get closer focusing on the small subject Blue Dasher dragonfly but taken from a distance away. I found that using longer lenses with extension tubes for close focusing works well on these skittish dragonflies instead of macro lenses. You have a much longer working distance so your subject dragonfly does not get nervous & fly off giving you more time for shooting a variety of angles & compositions of images. And a bonus of using a 400mm lens or 300mm lens with extension tubes is you get very clean smooth blurred backgrounds. You can also add a 1.4x or 2x teleconverter for more working distance and even smoother backgrounds.
Common Terns At Brigantine
Posted on May 24, 2022
I usually do not photograph some of the smaller birds I see at Wildlife Refuges. Usually they are far off in the distance or are very skittish and fly off. On this trip to the Brigantine Division of the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR these Common Terns were more cooperative. All images here were taken with a Canon 400mm DO lens with a 2X Teleconverter on a Canon 1DmkIV. The last image in the series was actually a panorama shot as it was flying right at me and I wanted to get the right wingtip in also. So I quickly shot a series of images hoping to get the right wingtip in also for my final pano image.
Northern Harrier FlyBy At Blackwater NWR
Posted on May 22, 2022
A series of Northern Harrier images taken at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland. All images were taken with a 400mm DO lens with a 1.4X Canon Teleconverter on a Canon 7D.
Damselfly & Dragonfly Season is Starting Soon
Posted on April 19, 2022
It will not be long before we start seeing Dragonflies & Damselflies here in NJ. These are some of my favorite photo subjects. The images here were taken years ago at my pond at my old home. These were taken with an old 200mm Canon FD Manual focus macro lens adapted to a m43 Panasonic GH2 Camera or a Canon 400mm DO Lens with extension tubes for closer focusing. FOV of the Canon FD lens on a m43 body gave me the equivalent of a 400mm Macro lens. The Featured Image is a Damselfly with a raindrop on it’s head.
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