Dragonfly

[jscotti]

Testing out the macro mode on my new Sigma 70-300 APO Super II on my 20D, I found this Dragonfly resting on the rocks next to a nearly dry waterfall in Madera Canyon south of Tucson. The eyes looked out of focus even when his head was well focused probably due to the way the sky reflected in his eyes.

Jim.

[einsteinsauntie]

Beautiful colours. With such a long bug it would be very difficult to get most of it in focus. I like the second shot best, he's giving you the evil eye.

[RockOne]

Awesome shots. I think the eyes look out of focus because of the very narrow depth of field on the elongated animal. Its actually a damselfly too (the difference is damselflies fold their wings behind them when at rest wheras dragonflies keep their wings outstrectched).
We have damselflies around here that have a blue main body (where the wings are) and a blue end of the elongated part of the body but are transparent in between. In flight they look like two separate blue insects moving in unison - I wish I could get a photo of one, but they are too quick :-) ).

[jscotti]

Awesome shots. I think the eyes look out of focus because of the very narrow depth of field on the elongated animal.

Yeah, I thought that too at first, but even when the area between the eyes is in focus, the eyes still look out of focus.

Its actually a damselfly too (the difference is damselflies fold their wings behind them when at rest wheras dragonflies keep their wings outstrectched).
We have damselflies around here that have a blue main body (where the wings are) and a blue end of the elongated part of the body but are transparent in between. In flight they look like two separate blue insects moving in unison - I wish I could get a photo of one, but they are too quick :-) ).

Cool! You learn something new all the time. I watched this one fly around the area and would never have gotten a shot of him in flight, but happily, he landed and hung around on the rock long enough for me to get the shot in. I got what I think is the same one on 3 different occasions within a few feet of the same spot. I didn't realize just how colorful the damselfly was until I got it upclose in my viewfinder. I also got some pictures of some horseflies in the same area - they were quite annoying until I realized just how good a closeup shot I could get with my new macro lens! :D

Jim.