Southern hawker (m)

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 7D canon 180mm macro &1.4TC1 ISO 400 1/1000 sec f8
Well this turned out to be a nice birthday present! We have recently had rather cool and blustery weather then we had a spell of three warm days. This hawker came flying round the pond, I thought it was going to be impossible he just would not slow down, but I persevered, I got a few "nearly" shots and then I noticed a somewhat irregular flight pattern. I followed as much as possible, manually focusing then I took the image in AF when I sensed he was going to be flying more slowly. I tried single point with expansion but as usual I ended up with just one point being most successful - I think this gives less opportunity for the camera to hunt, and when you are on the subject it is quicker.
All C&C welcome.

[shane shacaluga]

Super BIF (Bug in flght)

Wonderful effort and respect for persevering on this one. Love the slightly blurred wings giving the sense of motion. BG is wonderful too and I love the black green a blue coloration on this dragonfly.

If I had to nitpick i would say that there I seem to see either very very slight movement in the body or its not 100% in focus. Maybe 1/1250 would have nailed it completely??

[Mitch Haimov]

Spectacular, Jonathan! Excellent subject, and catching an insect in flight (and in focus) is always impressive. Nicely parallel with the sensor, well back in the frame, soft & complementary BG. It's a winner!

[Satish Ranadive]

Absolutely superb image.Regards,Satish.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Jon, these shots arent easy to get right, but you certainly nailed it. Great DOF on the dragonfly, and the show of that one wing against the green BG. Well done for persevering, and it paid off - congrats.

OH...Happy Birthday

Sent you a skype.

[Nancy Bell]

Awesome! So different from a perched dragonfly. It almost looks like you pulled a perch out from under him! Very interesting to see those legs tucked up under the body. Great light, brilliant colors, good position to the camera, great details, great bkgd...great capture! Happy birthday!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thank you very much everyone for your kind comments.

[Declan Troy]

Wow, this one is just great.

[Mitch Carucci]

Wow! What a great image. Can't say more.