PNagy Loc: Missouri City, Texas

I shot two or three of them this summer. So far I have nothing I would dare post on UHH.

Tripod1 Loc: Phoenix, Az.

I've just started to take Dragon Fly shots, wish I could get a good picture.

nikonesian Loc: Midwest USA

#3 looks pretty good to me. Talk about handheld!

Tripod1 Loc: Phoenix, Az.

Yea #3 I was holding the camera in right hand and the dragon fly in the left. I volunteer at Phx Zoo in StingRay Bay the poor thing fell in the water I rescued it. It was wet salt water, held on to me for about 5 min till wings dried, I finally shook it off and it flew away.

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

Have you replied to any of the points being raised?

You submitted two pictures of dragon flies that are in flight so we should assume you are asking about that specific area of dragonfly photography??

No need to fill the view finder but a definite need to zoom further in and by crikey those things are fast..

I am not experienced in this specific skill (snapping dragon flies that are in flight) but good luck to you in your future attempst.

Instead of posting images of these insects that are static, it would be brilliant to see pictures of them in flight.. It is something I would love to try but sadly these insects have never graced me with their presence :(

eframgoldberg Loc: South Florida

If you want to capture a dragonfly in flight you have a few options. You can either use a longer focal length like around 300mm and like f5.6 to make sure you have a decent depth of field, and kick up your iso until your shutter speed is around 1/1000. It would be nice to have a close focusing telephoto. A 200mm or 180mm macro would be ideal. You might want to set your camera up on continuous shooting and see if you can get lucky enough to capture it in flight. Dragonflies are iffy, the easiest way to shoot an insect in flight is if it is hovering, and dragonflies do not hover too much.
The other option is to set up a special rig. These have trip lasers and when the dragonfly flies through the laser, it will break the signal and the camera will fire. To do this you will set up the camera, with the laser, usually a high speed flash, and make sure the delays are correct. I have no done this but Im sure you can find other people who have.
In conclusion, there is no easy way to capture a dragonfly in flight. I have taken over 50,000 macro shots the past year and I have around less then 10 shots of insects flying. Good Luck.

Here is an orchid bee in flight, these bees hover so with some patience you can capture them,


here is a hover fly in flight, also an insect prone to hover.


here is a lucky shot of a bee in flight


here is a honey bee in flight, cropped, and taken with nikkor 28mm f2.8 ais on close focus.


a wasp in flight

groucho333

Great shots.

Groucho

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

There is an old saying which states how, 'Practice makes perfect' and clearly you are well on the way to that. :thumbup:

I guess I have only taken at most a dozen shots and NONE of them in macro like your amazing examples.... Much envy

eframgoldberg Loc: South Florida

patience and perseverance can overcome any obstacle.

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

The funny thing was that the first image was taken at just 1/60th of a second :shock:

The second with the blurred wings at 1/4000th

Tripod1 Loc: Phoenix, Az.

eframgoldberg and glojo those are just beautiful shots, Thanks for sharing.

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

I personally cannot begin to imagine how efram managed to get those shots and I FULLY understand how he could have shot so many images to get those amazing results that have been achieved. Macro shots of a bee in flight is something way, way way beyond my abilities.



:lol: We can all say,

'Look this way daaarling!'

But try telling a bee to keep still whilst it is in motion. I used a macro lens but efram GOT a macro picture :thumbup: :thumbup:

I wonder if they were radio controlled top secret Area 51 gadgets :mrgreen:

Amazing shots

eframgoldberg Loc: South Florida

for all those shots I used a nikkor 50mm f2.8d which isnt a macro lens, but if you reverse mount it, the way I did, it gives around 1x which would make it technically a macro lens. The one of the honey bee flying away from a white/yellow flower was taken with the nikkor 28mm f2.8 ais mounted normal at close focus, so that would make it technically not a macro lens. Note that particular shot is cropped, which is why it maybe looks macro. The others are full size. except the hover fly which is cropped, but cropped from a macro image.

here is the original you can download


another full size


this is cropped from a full size, but still taken in the macro range around 1x, the bee is cleaning its tongue in flight

Tripod1 Loc: Phoenix, Az.

Radio control you just might have something there. I'm jealous tho maybe one of these days I'd be able to get a great shot like these

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

Thanks very much indeed for the detailed explanation and who really cares if they fall within that definition of 'macro' or not, they are quite unique images.

Roughly how close do you think you were to these insects ?

You can imagine the problems I have with the 105mm lens as the field of view is very restricted and it would be very beneficial to have an extra eye like a Cyclops where I could locate a bee with the Cyclops eye and then hone in with the lens :)

I am being slightly flippant when I say how it might be easier with a wider angle lens although it is something I might consider having seen what is possible.

The 105mm lens will possibly give the detail but the detail of nothing is exactly that :) :thumbup: