My first Dragons!!

After weeks of trying and hoping for Dragon Flies I found TWO!
lol typical- anyway the first one I saw was on the wooden fence and you can imaging I was approaching cautiously- Now even using my 300mm I only got a couple of ok shots before it flew away
I then attached the extension tubes and was off for the other one- which I found up in the vegetable patch; It was sunning itself on the earth so I snapped a few shots; then put the first two rings on as the last 12mm lost AF so with like 20+mm I crept even closer and got some quite good shots; I then put the lens down and crept on my belly to within a foot of it and simply watched it- they are amazing creatures (hence the new avatar ) and I decided to get my macro lens; crept back; got my 100mm macro put full extension tubes on; don't think I had the last 12mm on though; then got some frame filling shots; the end of the lens was like 6inches from the dragon; but it wasn't too sunny so ISO of 400 usually and slower shutter speeds but hey my first Dragons- I'm so happy

These are quick edits; basically resized and I think one or two sharpened quickly:

Anyway enjoy:

Number one:

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Great stuff Richard nice and clean.
I like the second one for the DOF but the colours of the third one is better. The first one is just too busy. DOF needed... IMHO.
I've been longing to get my hands on some great macro lenses. You did a good job with yours.
I myself just posted some first time dragonflies here: https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=355764
Take a look and tell me what you think... one dragon newbie to another. lol

I love the sharpness of your shots... sign, man I need a dedicated macro lens.
BTW I love your sig... 'L' = hell

Thanks lol- yea your shots seem to have awesome colours and backdrops but lack in sharpness; mine seem very sharp but lack colours... etc.
You need to get a macro lens- from what I can see of your macro attempts you would get some stonkers with a true macro lens

Ferco wrote in post #3636321
Thanks lol- yea your shots seem to have awesome colours and backdrops but lack in sharpness; mine seem very sharp but lack colours... etc.
You need to get a macro lens- from what I can see of your macro attempts you would get some stonkers with a true macro lens

thnx Richard, we should combine our pics to get the perfect macro...

lol would if I could

All to soft, focus is of just a bit. Focus is really critical, focus on the eyes.
#2 is the best. Keep up the good work.

I agree with the comment about the cluttered background in shot 1 but unfortunately you can rarely choose where a dragonfly decides to parks itself. It's still not a bad shot.
Shot 2 is almost there but DOF is suffering a little too much and perhaps a better angle to bring the abdomen in the plane of focus would have helped. I much prefer natural light to flash but I think on this occasion the light and DOF was working against you and flash would have enabled you to work with a smaller aperture.
Still, you got your dragonfly; a female common darter, so well done!

Congratulations..nice set of images..I have recently photographed my first dragonfly and im now throughly addicted. They are just amazing to watch.

Alistair