Inspired by Bald Eagle: My first try at dragonflies

[justintx]

Howdy Folks,
After seeing all the great shots of dragonfliies posted by Bald Eagle and others, I decided to try and catch a couple for myself. These are two of toooo many :o . These were also taken before BE revealed his typical shooting setup (thx!), so I still have to give that a try. :lol: Do you guys chase these things around with your tripods or do you just have extra steady hands? :confused:

[Bald Eagle]

Thank you very, very much for the kind words, your shots are excellent as posted, very sharp and colorful, I like the composition and the detail of both shots. Some are lucky to have very steady hands, I still chase mine with a tripod. Looking forward to seeing more great shots such as these.:D :D :D

[justintx]

Thanks for the encouraging words BE! I'll try the ol' tripod chase next time. :lol:

[mebailey]

justintx,
Those are excellent shots. What equipment did you use to get those captures?

[justintx]

Thanks Mike!
I have the Canon 20D and the lens was the Canon 100mm f2.8 macro.

[lomond]

Both shots are excellent.
The second is fantastic.

Instead of tripod chasing why not get up early before the sun has had a chance to warm them into life.

[justintx]

Thanks for the kind words Cameron. :)
Thanks for the tip on a morning ambush too. That does sound like it may be less frustrating than tripod chasing. :)

[mebailey]

Thanks Mike!
I have the Canon 20D and the lens was the Canon 100mm f2.8 macro.

Did you use a flash? I have used the camera hand-held with a ring flash with very sharp results. You can also , of course, use a tripod but I like the flash because it makes the colors really pop out.

[justintx]

Mike, I didn't have my flash with me and I don't think the built-in would have cleared the hood without some sort of shadow?? Anyway, I'm going to start using flash to fill-in and try and get the colors to pop as you said.
Justin

[dancinec]

Nice captures just in texas, composition and colors are great. Use of a flash and a tripod will greatly increase the dof.

[Desertraptor]

Very nice shots. I wish i had Dragons of such colour to shoot :)

[megaweb]

Try to capture parallel to the dragonfly to achieve max. DOF . Use fill in flash to bring out the detail.

[Leorooster]

The 1st one is very nice, but the 2nd one is just great. Both are very sharp and colorful, but the background of the 1st one is a little distracting. Great work and keep them coming.

[mrclark321]

Great shots, the second one is excellent!!! Bald Eagle has been posting a lot of great shots and his dedication to all these macro shots really shows by this post!!!

Dan

[justintx]

Everyone, Thanks for the kind words and tips!
I'll keep trying. :D