And you thought damselflies were nice 56k warning

Gee, he is not quite so cute now...


Is it possible to handhold the 105?

Mick Emmett wrote:
Very interesting shots Brian and as ever sharp as a knife, the Damsels I tried shooting in France were all busy copulating but it didn't stop them flying off when ever I got with in 10 feet of them. Tried coming at them from down wind; out of the shadows; out of the sun; crawling on my belly (with the ground covered in ants; made sure my fly was up and my belt was tight ) I only managed to get one and I'm sure it was fast asleep.

Mick, this gave me an almighty good belly laugh, thank you

Brian, lovely series of images, I guess nature is pretty much a dog eat dog (or should that be insect eat insect) world. I wonder, who'd win between a Robber Fly and a Damselfly?

Dave

pxl8 wrote:
Nice sequence Brian. I'm still not sure if Damsels and Dragons eat their prey or just suck out the juices. Whenever I've watched them eat they always seem to discard the shell.

I think a 5x from the MPE would have been interesting but grim

Thanks pxl8. Think you are right- this one seemed to be "peeling" the fly.
Brian V.

Mick Emmett wrote:
Very interesting shots Brian and as ever sharp as a knife, the Damsels I tried shooting in France were all busy copulating but it didn't stop them flying off when ever I got with in 10 feet of them. Tried coming at them from down wind; out of the shadows; out of the sun; crawling on my belly (with the ground covered in ants; made sure my fly was up and my belt was tight ) I only managed to get one and I'm sure it was fast asleep.

Thanks Mick
All the bugs in my garden are under contract- got to allow me to photograph them or leave the garden
Brian V.

dpastern wrote:
Mick, this gave me an almighty good belly laugh, thank you

Brian, lovely series of images, I guess nature is pretty much a dog eat dog (or should that be insect eat insect) world. I wonder, who'd win between a Robber Fly and a Damselfly?

Dave

Thanks Dave
Suspect the robberfly would win - have seen pics of a robberfly eating a dragonfly. (BaldEagle I think)
Brian V.

misskitty5077 wrote:
Gee, he is not quite so cute now...

Is it possible to handhold the 105?

Thanks Misskitty
99.9% of my shots are handheld but I often use something else for support either my bean pole or something else closeby, in this case I was laying on the ground.
Brian V.

Thanks for looking and commenting all,
Much appreciated.
Brian V.

great detail there. Any species that limits fly numbers is nice in my book.

superb series brian not much else you can say really

Thanks Racketman
Don't think their impact is significant- seem to have a garden full of both flies and damselflies at the moment. Still waiting for the darter dragonflies to appear- well I did glimpse one this morning briefly.
Brian V.

chemicalbro wrote:
superb series brian not much else you can say really

Thanks Alan
It was kind of interesting watching it.
Brian V.

LordV wrote:
Thanks Misskitty
99.9% of my shots are handheld but I often use something else for support either my bean pole or something else closeby, in this case I was laying on the ground.
Brian V.

Great! I will prop on my knee, a tree, fencepost, anything available. I am comparing macro lenses and being able to handhold is a priority for me.

Awesome images! Very sharp and great color!

Great captures with amazing detail! Well done! Don't you like this guys/gals when they are eating

All dragons, demoiselles and damsels are carnivores. Some, the larger species, will take prey from out of the air but most damsels like this incredibly shot violacia blue tailed ambush their victims. They have toothed mouthparts (hence latin name odonata) so no sucking here!
Stunning shots.