Darter dragonfly portraits

[LordV]

Some closeups of a female common darter. Still haven't seen any males around and there are 3 females at least waiting in the garden.

Brian V.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3036/2675322672_973c174c97_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3295/2675322678_23ddb7481b_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/2675322682_8b609ca7be_o.jpg

[DooleyPix]

The clarity is second to none,great set of images.

[skylab]

Super shots, and lovely detail. Like the lighting in #1.

[striving]

#1 is perfect to me. Lighting, pose, POV, all of it. Awesome shots Brian!

[LindaB]

Wow, these are fabulous Brian. I havent seen 1 darter at all this year, in fact, locally all DFs seem to have disappeared!

Great to see yours :-)

Linda

[Keith Newton]

Those are fantastic. I have been wondering how the transition of the different size facets works. I can see here that the horizontal line carries across bending up a little in the middle, but on the other two they divide and add more lines as they get smaller.

I wonder why they would need to do that. I would think that having something like 2000 eyes would be almost as good as having 3000.

[macro junkie]

. I havent seen 1 darter at all this year, in fact, locally all DFs seem to have disappeared!

Great to see yours :-)

Linda
me to..its really pissing me off!

[LindaB]

me to..its really pissing me off!

Yeah me too as its half way through July now and another disappointing year so far - last year was terrible and I thought this year couldnt be any worse but so far it is. I've been out birding to get some in-flight fixes lol.

Linda

[racketman]

just connected my new iMac to the internet (with a little help from a call centre in India) - and these are the first images I am seeing on my bigger screen - photos really come alive . Not keen on the composition of No1 but detail on all is excellent.

[orionmystery]

Love the gorgeous detail :)

[troypiggo]

Superb Brian.

Oooh, I can't wait to get my hands on that MP-E 65. It's in the mail apparently :D

[FuryMe]

Are those lips? The detail and clarity if outstanding!

[TheFishGuy]

Great captures, awesome detail!
Chris

[Photogirl2007]

Excellent!! :)

[jnick]

Brian...just WOW. Those are amazing shots. Excellent work! Were these focus stacked? If so, roughly how many images, per shot?

[LordV]

Thanks for the comments everybody :)

Keith - I think the top of the eye is used for general all round low res vision and the sides of the eye are for high resolution prey catching in flight.

jnick- yes they are all focus stacked - tend to take about 8 shots from each angle but only use around 3 for the final focus stack.

[spidermanrbryce2006]

brilliant series Brian!!!

[LordV]

Thanks Bryce :)

Just as an aside- it turns out at least one of them is a male - it's just not fully coloured up yet - apparently they all start off with female colouring :)

Brian V.

[johnkermit1]

Great series. :cool:
the detail is amazing.

[dazzlebea]

Fantastic colors and detail :)

[DaveBinks]

Amazing pictures, great detail!!

[Lester Wareham]

Great shots Brian, very clear and detailed.

Wow, these are fabulous Brian. I havent seen 1 darter at all this year, in fact, locally all DFs seem to have disappeared!

Great to see yours :-)

Linda

me to..its really pissing me off!

Yeah me too as its half way through July now and another disappointing year so far - last year was terrible and I thought this year couldnt be any worse but so far it is. I've been out birding to get some in-flight fixes lol.

Linda

Try Thursley NNR (http://www.english-nature.org.uk/special/nnr/nnr_details.asp?C=0&Habitat=0&NNR_ID=158&X=&local_team=0&natural_area=&nnr_name=&spotlight_reserve=0)(Surrey/Hant borders). That is where I do most of my dragons. It's still recovering from the fire a couple of years back but there are still good numbers of dragons.

Not so many Emperors as there were, but plenty of Four Spotted Chasers when I was there last back on the 9th June. Often see Keeled Skimmers, Common Darter and Black Darter there also, the latter two should be emerging about now.

[akmoose]

Once again you have captured detail that really cant be distinguished with the naked eye. But through the lens you make it all tooo clear. My wife and I always look forward to the daily post. Well done!

[LindaB]

Great shots Brian, very clear and detailed.
Try Thursley NNR (http://www.english-nature.org.uk/special/nnr/nnr_details.asp?C=0&Habitat=0&NNR_ID=158&X=&local_team=0&natural_area=&nnr_name=&spotlight_reserve=0)(Surrey/Hant borders). That is where I do most of my dragons. It's still recovering from the fire a couple of years back but there are still good numbers of dragons.

Not so many Emperors as there were, but plenty of Four Spotted Chasers when I was there last back on the 9th June. Often see Keeled Skimmers, Common Darter and Black Darter there also, the latter two should be emerging about now.

Hi Lester - yes we go there when we have time and last went at the end of May. Saw a lot of four spotted chasers, and a couple of downy emeralds :D. We will probably go back again in the near future.

At the local ponds though, there is hardly anything about. I went to a local lake today and absolutely nothing.

Linda

[Sugarman]

Great shots, Brian! #1 does it for me.

[LordV]

Thanks for the comments all :)
Brian V.

[red_fan]

Wow, these are fabulous Brian. I havent seen 1 darter at all this year, in fact, locally all DFs seem to have disappeared!

Great to see yours :-)

Linda


A lot of Black Darters and maybe a Ruddy Darter at Thursley on Wednesday.

Stephen

[BASmith]

Yet another reason why I want this lens.

[dpastern]

Lovely beautiful shots Brian. Superb.

Dave

[LordV]

Thanks for looking and commenting BASmith and Dave :)
Brian V.

[LindaB]

A lot of Black Darters and maybe a Ruddy Darter at Thursley on Wednesday.

Stephen

Hi Stephen - oh thanks for that, I just love those little black darters - might try and get over there next Sunday. Dam, why couldnt the weather have been better the week before last and I could have seen them then. Hope we can get over there next weekend then. Thanks again for that :D

Linda

[greku69]

what a amazing details,color and everything...