I went out shooting today in some chilly weather (low seventies) in the marsh at a local park. It was pretty cold so there really wasn't much bug activity, but it wasn't a problem because I was only dragon hunting, which there were plenty of. Unfortunately, they decided to play games and kept flying circles around my head, and not a single one would land. And when they did land, they would always land on these stupid concrete blocks that made for a gross background. I finally had enough and was on my way out when I spotted this little guy sitting on a branch. He was very cooperative and only flew between closeby branches, staying in the same general area even as I took the time to equip an extension tube. I was especially lucky because the dragons I normally get are these little red ones, the blue and green ones are skittish as hell and I never get a chance to shoot them. So I set my camera to machine gun mode figuring I'd misfocus a lot (which I did) and shot my little model for quite a while.
This is the only one with good composition. There's just something I love about "take-a-step-back" macro - it makes the photo much more dynamic and gives it character.
These next couple just demonstrate the awesomeness of the 70-200/4L as a macro lens. I found it very easy to shoot and very easy to adjust focus/magnification. I had the 20mm tube on for these closer ones.
It looks like the skin is cracking a little bit in this pic...is he molting? Do dragonflies molt or shed?
Thanks for looking!
