eframgoldberg Loc: South Florida

canon 5d mkii + 100mm macro L 2.8
I had to manual focus because the camera kept jumping to the trees behind the dragonfly. I wish i had longer lens then 100, this is cropped form a larger image.

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

DIF = Dragon In Flight!
Nice capture of a Common Green Darner (Anax junius) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Darner .

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Very nice! I have tried but never got one.

Stevieboy Loc: West Palm Beach, Florida

Nice work Efram.

danielle_andrassy Loc: Ontario, Canada

Wow! Never was able to catch one in flight. I am still working at it though.

PRETENDER Loc: Micanopy,Florida

I feel myself fortunate shoot one sitting still. Very nice shot.

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

Nice Capture :thumbup:

Dixiegirl Loc: Alabama gulf coast

Very good!!!

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Nice. Have you tried adding a flash to freeze the wings in flight?

:thumbup: :thumbup:

eframgoldberg Loc: South Florida

i know the basics of what is involved but i have no tried it. i shot this at 1/1250s i know with the bees i normally shoot 1/2000 will freeze some wings and not others. The two issues i would have with flash are this: the first is drive. I shoot continuously as I am focusing trying to get the shot. I was using a 100mm lens on a full frame camera to shoot a dragonfly a good 6 feet away so. Manual focusing and continuous shooting were a must, and with the flash I lose being able to shoot quickly.
If i were to set up a studio with a flight tube and the camera pre focused and set to fire when then insect breaks a beam, then the flash would be the way to go.

As a side note, I have shot orchid bees hovering near me using a speedlight as the primary light source. even though i was shooting at 1/200s the flash gave all the light and I was able to stop the motion of the wings. Orchid bees are special in that they hover in the same place for seconds at a time are not too skittish.

eframgoldberg Loc: South Florida

1/1250 is fast enough to freeze the dragonfly wings, they beat many hertz lower then other insects. If the wings look blurred above it is because they are out of the limited depth of field and not because of movement.