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.
Category: Better Beamer Flash Extender, Blog, Canon 1D MkIV, Dragonflies, dragonfly, yard & pond Tagged: Better Beamer Flash Extender, canon 1D mk IV, Canon 1D MkIV, Canon 1D mkIV Camera, canon 400mm f/4 DO, Canon 600EX-RT, Canon flash, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Dragonfly closeups, dragonfly photography, Fill Flash Photography, Outdoor Fill Flash Photography, Twelve-Spotted Dragonfly, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Twelve-Spotted Skimmer Dragonfly
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.
Category: Blog, Blue Dasher, Blue Dasher Dragonfly, Canon 1.4X Teleconverter, Canon 7D, Damselfly, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Equipment, Favorite Locations, Focus Stacking, Focus Stacking Images, Image Stacking, Insects, Stacked Images, yard & pond Tagged: Blue Dasher, Blue Dasher Dragonfly, Canon 400 f/4 DO lens, canon 400mm f/4 DO, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Dragonfly closeups, dragonfly photography, Dragonflys, Female Blue Dasher Dragonfly
Posted on June 28, 2022
I was going through my some of my back-up drives to clear up space for newer images. I am trying not to add even more drives that I have to deal with! As I was clearing up space I was finding interesting images that I have not posted here. These 2 images are of a Twelve-Spotted Skimmer dragonfly that was visiting my pond at my old home years ago. Both images are a series of 5 images focused at different points along the wings, tail & head. I used to use this technique when I could not get closer to my subject Dragonflies because they were out in the middle of my pond. I lowered my camera to look a little more up and to get a more colorful background on the Featured Image. I was using a Canon 7D with a 400mm DO lens with a Canon Flash with a Better Beamer Flash Extender to fill in more details on the Dragonfly. I was also using stacked Teleconverters with extension tubes in between so I only had a limited in-focus window. Arranging the Teleconverters & Extension Tubes in different orders or different size Extension Tubes gives you different zones of focus. So it takes a little practice to get used to using this technique for predictable results! The Dragonfly was 15.4 feet away (according to the Raw Data). The focused-stacked images were loaded into a Photoshop file and auto-aligned & auto-blended for the final images. The images of the Camera Setup showing the Extension Tubes & Teleconverters placement were on a Canon 1D MkIV. I did not have an image showing the 7D with this setup!
Category: Blog, Canon 1.4X Teleconverter, Canon 1D MkIV, Canon 7D, Closeup Photography, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Equipment, Favorite Locations, Focus Stacking, Focus Stacking Images, Image Stacking, Panorama & Stacked Images, Uncategorized, yard & pond Tagged: Better Beamer Flash Extender, Canon 1D MkIV, Canon Teleconverters Canon Extension Tubes, dragonfly, Dragonfly closeups, dragonfly photography, extension tubes, fill flash, image blending, image focus stacking, Image Stacking, image stacking with photoshop, Stacking Teleconverters, Twelve-spotted Skimmer
Posted on July 13, 2021
Another series of images of one of my favorite dragonflies, the Blue Dasher Dragonfly. These were taken over quite a few years and lots of locations. Almost all were taken with a Canon 1D mkIV with a 400mm DO lens. Some with 1.4x or 2X Teleconverters for added reach since they were out a ways in a pond or stream.
Category: Blackwater NWR, Cambridge MD, Blog, Brigantine NWR, Oceanville NJ, Davidsons Mill Pond Park, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Equipment, Insects, Nature Still Lifes, Plainsboro Preserve, Stacked Images, yard & pond Tagged: Better Beamer Flash Extender, Canon 1D MkIV, canon 400mm f/4 DO, Canon 400mm f/4 DO lens, Canon extension tubes, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Dragonfly closeups, dragonfly photography
Posted on June 30, 2021
A closeup uncropped image of a Female Blue Dasher Dragonfly. It was in a small pond but off in the distance in the middle of the pond. It was about 8 feet from the edge of the pond. To get this close to Dragonflies that I can not get close to I have come up with a method to get detail images of them. I was using a 400mm f/4 DO lens with multiple stacked extension tubes between multiple teleconverters. With this setup I had to use an on-camera flash with a “Better Beamer” Flash Extender to light the dragonfly because of all the light loss with multiple extension tubes & teleconverters . This dragonfly was about 8 ft out in the water. You can see the flash hotspot on the eye. Changing the order of the extension tubes and different sizes of the teleconverters gives you different zones of manual focus. Also you have to try different exposures because Auto Exposure does not work with all the extension tubes & teleconverters. After trying this for a while you can get nice closeups of distant Dragonflies. Also you usually get nice “clean” & smooth backgrounds. It takes some practice but you can get some interesting images of distant Dragonflies.
Category: Blog, Closeup Photography, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Equipment, Nature Still Lifes, Photo Tips, Tips & Techniques, yard & pond Tagged: Better Beamer Flash Extender, Blue Dasher Dragonfly, blue dasher Female dragonfly, Canon 1D MkIV, Canon 400mm DO lens, Canon extension tubes, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, closeup photography, Dragonfly closeups, Great Blue Skimmer Dragonfly
Posted on September 7, 2019
I was going through some older backup hard disks and found a series of Dragonfly Closeup images. So I thought I would add them to the blog.
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Category: Blog, Dragonflies Tagged: Dragonflies, dragonfly, dragonfly Closeup, Dragonfly closeups
Posted on September 1, 2019
Here are a few images of Dragonflies and a Damselfly from a few local parks in our area. Most were shot with a close focusing 300mm f/4 lens with either extension tubes to get closer or 1.4X or 2X teleconverter. A few I used a Canon 400mm f/4 DO with Extension tubes and 1.4X teleconverter. The featured image is a female Eastern Pondhawk that was quite cooperative for extreme closeups. Image taken with Canon 7D, handheld, 300mm @ f/8, 1/1000 sec, ISO 400.
Blue Dasher extreme closeup – 2 image focus stack Canon 7D, Canon 300mm f/4 IS, 1.4X teleconverter, w/extension tubes
Blue Dasher extreme closeup – 2 image focus stack Canon 7D, Canon 300mm f/4 IS, 1.4X teleconverter, w/extension tubes (f/11, 1/200 sec, ISO 400)
Damselfly – multi image stack, 400mm f/4 DO with extension tubes, f/8, 1/50 sec, 1600 ISO, camera on tripod
Female Eastern Pondhawk- f/11, 1/320 sec, 300mm f/4 w/ 1.4X teleconverter
Slaty Blue Dragonfly, f/11, 1/160 sec, +1/3 exp. comp, 300mm w/ 2X teleconverter, Single image, flew off before focus stacking images
Slaty Blue Dragonfly, f/10, 1/320 sec, 300mm w/1.4X teleconverter, effective 420mm
Category: Blog, Closeup Photography, Davidsons Mill Pond Park, Dragonflies, Favorite Locations, Panorama & Stacked Images, Plainsboro Preserve, Stacked Images, Tips & Techniques Tagged: Audubon Plainsboro Preserve, Blue Dasher Dragonfly, Canon 1D MkIV, canon 300mm f/4 lens IS, canon 400mm f/4 DO, Canon 7D, canon R camera, Canon Series 2X teleconverter, Canon Series III 1.4X Teleconverter, Davidsons Mill Pond Park, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Dragonfly closeups, Eastern Pondhawk, Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly, slaty skimmer dragonfly