Flame Skimmer

[Diane Miller]

I've been finding some dragonflies apparently bedding down for the night, or at least soaking up some last rays, as I head back to the car in the early evening from an osprey nest. Canon 7D2, 100-400 II + 1.4X at 560mm, ISO 1600, f/11, 1/500 sec, M mode, handheld. Minimal adjustments in LR and into PS for some minimal NR and a touch of Detail Extractor. Some minor cloning on the BG and added a small amount of canvas at the bottom, otherwise the full original frame.

I'd love more sharness in the wingtips but moving to get them in the plane of focus gave an ugly BG.

[Warren Spreng]

Nice catch Diane, maybe I need to check out my pond in the early evening. Lots of dragonflies but always active during the day, they just don't want to pose!

[MiroslavMaric]

Despite harsh light I like the colors and tone. You did very good handheld shot with this focal length on APS. DOF is ok for me and I like the POV. Well applied NR. TFS.

Cheers,
Miro

[Diane Miller]

As the day warms up they get busy catching bugs and cruising around for a mate, but if you find one on a good perch it will often return to the same spot after repeated forays for bug catching. But if you frighten it, it generally won/t come back to the same one. You can often use the time when they are making a meal run to sneak toward a good position and hope for the best. They settle down in the late afternoon to catch some rays.

[Karen Pleasant]

Excellent details and sharpness in the dragonfly accentuated by the creamy background. Nice work.

[Jerry van Dijk]

Gorgeous BG, I like that it still shows some structure. The dragonfly does not seem to be as sharp as it could be. Specifically the body and head look a little soft. I'm not sure whether you used the AF to focus with the camera selecting the focus point? If so, I would try to manually focus next time, or select the focal point for the AF yourself. The main point of focus now seems to be on the wings slightly to the right of the body, leaving the head and body a little softer. In my experience, the AF tends to focus on the more contrast rich parts of dragonflies, usually the thorax or in this case the wings. This is especially problematic if you photograph them from the side. ISO-1600 seems a bit of a challenge for an image like this too. How is the 7D performing regarding detail loss at high ISO? I have the Nikon D7000 and am absolutely not happy with the loss of detail at ISO values above 500 for macro images.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Nice shot Diane, when i go out for macro shots I ususally take some small scissors with me. When he flies off you maybe able to snip off some of the side shoots off the dead plant stem

[Diane Miller]

I found a piece of thin dowel bar about 4 ft long and screwed a hook into one end. I'm hoping it might be useful to pull away the occasional offending piece of vegetation without causing too much disturbance -- during a feeding foray, of course. Haven't has a chance to try it.

Jerry, I agree this one isn't super-sharp. (I probably neglected to do a subtle Smary Sharpen on the JPEG, though. I tend to overlook that step.) With the 1.4X on, I'm limited to the center focus point, and am using BB focus, so always in AI Servo. I would have more control of focus on a tripod. Sometimes I will lock focus (letting go of the button) and shoot a burst and hope the inevitable slight rocking motion will give a best frame, or even 2-3 I can focus stack.

I may have had the 4 helper points active here -- maybe not the best idea. I agree the AF sensor can sometimes be intrigued with a different area than I am!

Re the 7D2 and ISO 1600 -- I despise it. Fine detail is lost in grain and the dynamic range suffers. But in this case the SS was marginal at 1/500. Next time I'm bringing my tripod. I've been commuting the final leg to the osprey nest on my bike -- too impatient for a 20+ minute walk and too much gear for a 10-minute jog. The camera is in a backpack and I can strap the tripod on the back rack.

[Jerry van Dijk]

thanks for the extra info Diane. That hooked bar sounds like a really smart idea! Will have to try that out some time too!
If you go for a tripod, I would really recommend to go for manual focus. I hated it when I first started macro, but now I don't want it any other way. At these magnifications, having control over the exact point of focus and the DOF is crucial. I've also tried AI servo, but on my camera, when the dragonfly tilted its head (which they do all the time to scan for prey flying by), the focus already shifted.
Good luck capturing more of these wonderful images!

[Jonathan Ashton]

I tend to use AI Servo 95% of the time I only use Single shot when I know the subject and camera are static. I alternate with rear button AF ON and rear button AF OFF currently I am with the latter so I can quickly find the focus and if necessary tweak it manually and fire the shutter without switching the lens to manual AF which is a pain if you are in portrait mode.

[Diane Miller]

I use rear button all the time. Switching to MF is just a matter of releasing the button, which freezes the focus, and tweaking the MF ring. With a macro subject, often rocking back and forth a bit is a good way to fine-tune focus. Am I missing something?

Everything is a pain in portrait mode, for me.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I use rear button all the time. Switching to MF is just a matter of releasing the button, which freezes the focus, and tweaking the MF ring. With a macro subject, often rocking back and forth a bit is a good way to fine-tune focus. Am I missing something?

Everything is a pain in portrait mode, for me.
No I don't think you are missing anything, but I find that servo focus works well because you don't have to keep fine tuning manually provided you have the focus point at the critical spot.