G'Day Joe:

I have no idea what Adrie dislikes about this capture; it's focus on the eyes is spot-on; exposure is good, and besides, I just love dragonflies. Of course, the DOF is somewhat shallow, but that's to be expected when you're this close to your subject and when your maximum aperture is only f-8.

The truth be known I'm a tad jealous since I was never able to get so close with my trusty C-8080. I posted three dragonflies on this site some time ago and none of them are this close up.

Ciao!

Thanks again for you comments Leon. I really didn't get this close with my C8080. I cropped and enlarged the image with Photoshop. The 8 megapixels allowed me to do so and still retain good clarity.

G'Day Ardie:

Oh ... That thought crossed my mind - knowing just how difficult it is to capture dragonflies (digitally speaking, that is).

Nowadays it's relatively common knowledge that John Audubon, the artist who became famous during the 19th Century for his highly detailed watercolors of North American birds, first killed the birds to study their anatomy, primarily their colors. Times change and now the Audubon Society's mission is: "To conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the (Get the picture?) ... "

As for adult dragonflies, their lifespan is all of 24 hours, not much time at all, enough time to feast and breed. This being the case there ought to be enough that have recently died that are salvageable for macro-photographic purposes. Not only are dragonflies (also known as mosquito hawks) spectacular acrobatic artists in flight, they are voracious killers of insect pests. Here in north central Florida this latter trait is highly appreciated. We've got tons of pesty biting insect critters.

Whenever I leave the city streets for the wild environs my mantra is: Take nothing but photographs; leave nothing but footprints.

If anyone ever asks me I will discourage them from killing for photographic purposes, especially insects that serve us so well. Personally, when it comes to nature photography at least half of the pleasure and satisfaction is the quest for the perfect photographic image. The click of the shutter typically takes far less than a second but (imo) the time it takes getting to and from the photo-op is no less important.

Ciao!

Leon Plympton wrote:
> G'Day Ardie:
>
> Oh ... That thought crossed my mind - knowing just how difficult it is to capture dragonflies
> (digitally speaking, that is).
>
> Nowadays it's relatively common knowledge that John Audubon, the artist who became famous
> during the 19th Century for his highly detailed watercolors of North American birds, first
> killed the birds to study their anatomy, primarily their colors. Times change and now the
> Audubon Society's mission is: "To conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds
> and other wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the (Get the picture?) ... "
>
> As for adult dragonflies, their lifespan is all of 24 hours, not much time at all, enough
> time to feast and breed. This being the case there ought to be enough that have recently died
> that are salvageable for macro-photographic purposes. Not only are dragonflies (also known
> as mosquito hawks) spectacular acrobatic artists in flight, they are voracious killers of
> insect pests. Here in north central Florida this latter trait is highly appreciated. We've
> got tons of pesty biting insect critters.
>
> Whenever I leave the city streets for the wild environs my mantra is: Take nothing but photographs;
> leave nothing but footprints.
>
> If anyone ever asks me I will discourage them from killing for photographic purposes, especially
> insects that serve us so well. Personally, when it comes to nature photography at least half
> of the pleasure and satisfaction is the quest for the perfect photographic image. The click
> of the shutter typically takes far less than a second but (imo) the time it takes getting
> to and from the photo-op is no less important.
>
> Ciao!
>

Hi Leon, Actually a dragonfly can live up to two months : http://www.dragonflies.org/faq.htm#top
I don't know the circumstance of this spectacular photo, but I have been able to approach a resting dragonfly to about 300mm.
I see no reason for killing an insect, just for a photograph.
Mike

One would assume from the photograph and seeing the pin that the dragonfly is dead. Yes I did photograph a dead dragonfly, but I did not kill it. This is the second dead insect that I have photographed. The first was the carpenter bee on the cactus flower and the twig,that I found dead on the floor of my screened-in porch. The dragonfly, I found belly-up on my driveway. Both insects were still beautiful and totally intact. The pin was necessary for the dragonfly because I was outdoors when the photograph was made and it was a slightly windy day. If I had been more observant, I would have taken the photography from the other side where the pin was not obvious. The fact that both insects were motionless allowed me to take my time and get the best possible focus. I will continue to work on my insect macros using any available subject whether it be living or naturally deceased. I am sorry if that approach does not appeal to other photographers but it works for me.

Mike Babson wrote:
> Leon Plympton wrote:
> > G'Day Ardie:
> >
> > Oh ... That thought crossed my mind - knowing just how difficult it is to capture dragonflies
> > (digitally speaking, that is).
> >
> > Nowadays it's relatively common knowledge that John Audubon, the artist who became famous
> > during the 19th Century for his highly detailed watercolors of North American birds, first
> > killed the birds to study their anatomy, primarily their colors. Times change and now the
> > Audubon Society's mission is: "To conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds
> > and other wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the (Get the picture?) ... "
> >
> > As for adult dragonflies, their lifespan is all of 24 hours, not much time at all, enough
> > time to feast and breed. This being the case there ought to be enough that have recently died
> > that are salvageable for macro-photographic purposes. Not only are dragonflies (also known
> > as mosquito hawks) spectacular acrobatic artists in flight, they are voracious killers of
> > insect pests. Here in north central Florida this latter trait is highly appreciated. We've
> > got tons of pesty biting insect critters.
> >
> > Whenever I leave the city streets for the wild environs my mantra is: Take nothing but photographs;
> > leave nothing but footprints.
> >
> > If anyone ever asks me I will discourage them from killing for photographic purposes, especially
> > insects that serve us so well. Personally, when it comes to nature photography at least half
> > of the pleasure and satisfaction is the quest for the perfect photographic image. The click
> > of the shutter typically takes far less than a second but (imo) the time it takes getting
> > to and from the photo-op is no less important.
> >
> > Ciao!
> >
>
> Hi Leon, Actually a dragonfly can live up to two months : http://www.dragonflies.org/faq.htm#top
> I don't know the circumstance of this spectacular photo, but I have been able to approach
> a resting dragonfly to about 300mm.
> I see no reason for killing an insect, just for a photograph.
> Mike
>
G'Day Mike:

And thank you for setting me straight. I got the 24 hours 'information' from a publication at my office from our personnel department; on the back page was a list of 10 trivial facts, at least one of which is now known to be untrue. It seemed strange to me that they only lived 24 hours; it hardly seemed fair for such sophisticated insects to live such a short life - not that a month or so is such a great improvement; of course every bit helps. I can't wait to get a long lens (with a close focus feature) so that I can get back to shooting bugs - digitally, that is.

Ciao!

G'Day Joe:

No problem-o.

Like I said, the thought crossed my mind; however, with you being a retired school teacher I thought it unlikely that you were butchering bugs. FWIW: I, for one, have no problem at all with someone shooting dead insects, none at all - so long as it wasn't sacrificed for a photo-op. I found shooting dragonflies to be frustrating and challenging - and when everything went right, rather rewarding. Just the same there's just so much you can accomplish with a prosumer digi-cam.

I've said before and I'll say it again: I truly love the C-8080; it's got an amazing lens and more features than I ever used. Just the same it can't hold a candle to any of the Olympus dSLRs. Two notorious shortcomings in the C-8080 (and all other prosumer cameras) are the shutter delay and the EVF (rather than an optical viewfinder). Both these problems are solved by shifting to a dSLR. The third major shortcoming in all prosumer digi-cams is the inability to change lenses; again, the dSLR solves this shortcoming. Shoot & Enjoy!

-Ciao!