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Dragonflies

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Dragonflies

Postby Mj on Fri Jan 07, 2005 1:27 pm

Ok here's the start of a love/hate relationship with dragonflies.
Thought it might be fun to challenge myself with a small nibble target.
Plenty of hit and miss going on but here's one gotcha managed so far... I can see I have plenty of scope for improvement and some faster glass would certainly be of assistance, but I'd like to see just what I can achieve with what I have first. This shoot is taken handheld, 70-300ED glass, focal length 300, f/7.1, ISO 800, iTTL flash -1.7, 1/500 shutter.
Then cropped, a little noise reduction in NC, and a small amount of USM.

Had the ISO up (and forgotten about) whilst trying without flash, next attempt I'll dial ISO down and try f/8. Any other suggestions?

Image

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Postby stubbsy on Fri Jan 07, 2005 1:49 pm

mj wrote:small nibble target

Couldn't resist...

Guess you'd have to say it's a pretty tasty pic :D

Humour aside - great shot - I've found shooting continuous mode helps with shots like these - is this waht you did?
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Postby Glen on Fri Jan 07, 2005 1:54 pm

Good capture, MJ
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Postby Flyer on Fri Jan 07, 2005 2:11 pm

Well done.
I chased one dragonfly in my yard once - way too quick for me.
Any tips?
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Postby sirhc55 on Fri Jan 07, 2005 2:14 pm

Mj do you have a link to the photo as it is not showing up for me

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Postby HappyFotographer on Fri Jan 07, 2005 2:18 pm

You usually see shots of these little blighters stationary.....so this one flying was a nice surprise.

Can't offer any advice, except to say I am looking forward to any others you may post.
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Postby Glen on Fri Jan 07, 2005 2:26 pm

Chris not showing up for me either, I got this url by rightclicking (not an option on your system)

http://www.darwinonline.org/albums/user ... gonfly.jpg

relates to post about Darwin Online
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Postby W00DY on Fri Jan 07, 2005 2:37 pm

It is a great start to your experiment...

Looking forward to what you can produce in thime to come.

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Postby xerubus on Fri Jan 07, 2005 3:00 pm

Glen wrote:Chris not showing up for me either, I got this url by rightclicking (not an option on your system)

http://www.darwinonline.org/albums/user ... gonfly.jpg

relates to post about Darwin Online


hmmm... even that link doesn't work for me... comes up forbidden, permission denied...
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Postby Manta on Fri Jan 07, 2005 3:18 pm

xerubus wrote:hmmm... even that link doesn't work for me... comes up forbidden, permission denied...


Same for me. I took some dragonfly shots myself a few days ago so I'm REALLY keen to see this pic!! :cry:
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Postby sirhc55 on Fri Jan 07, 2005 3:20 pm

xerubus wrote:
Glen wrote:Chris not showing up for me either, I got this url by rightclicking (not an option on your system)

http://www.darwinonline.org/albums/user ... gonfly.jpg

relates to post about Darwin Online


hmmm... even that link doesn't work for me... comes up forbidden, permission denied...


Same here

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Postby W00DY on Fri Jan 07, 2005 3:26 pm

Could be time for all Darwin Online members to upgrade to SmugMug :wink:

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Postby leek on Fri Jan 07, 2005 3:41 pm

I think the darwinonline site is blocking direct links from other sites. Try cut-paste of the link above straight into a fresh browser window and it should work - did for me...
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Postby Kristine on Fri Jan 07, 2005 4:30 pm

W00DY wrote:Could be time for all Darwin Online members to upgrade to SmugMug :wink:

W00DY


Go to PixSpot and get free image hosting :-)
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Postby Glen on Fri Jan 07, 2005 4:42 pm

I'm a http://www.pixspot.com beleiver. Everything sorted, works well, provided by one of our very own members, Kristine, and the price is right for forum members, free. :D

It is worth my membership fee here at D70users.com just for the free image hosting. Now Woody, you're not paying for image hosting are you? That money could be better used for lens lust or Tsunami victims :idea:
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Postby sirhc55 on Fri Jan 07, 2005 4:46 pm

Glen it really looks as if you heading for 1000 posts pre-Thailand :wink:

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Postby jonnydee on Fri Jan 07, 2005 4:47 pm

Well done! I was trying to do the same a couple of days ago and couldn't get anywhere near. Were you panning to follow the flight, or waiting until they pause in the air?
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Postby sirhc55 on Fri Jan 07, 2005 4:53 pm

Finally got to see the image - well done nicely caught.

Basically what is required is patience, a VR lens and a VR dragonfly :roll:

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Postby Mj on Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:27 pm

mmm... been out this afternoon and just got to read these posts... clearly the site I'm posting to is unreliable so quick smart I wil apply to kristine for a pixspot account... can't go wrong for the price and I believe the host knows what their doing... bear with me and I'll get that pic and others available for your entertainment critic and amusement !!!

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Postby Mj on Fri Jan 07, 2005 7:47 pm

stubbsy wrote:Humour aside - great shot - I've found shooting continuous mode helps with shots like these - is this waht you did?


Indeed that is exactly what I did... once focus is locked on I wanted to get as many shots off quick smart in the hope that I might get one keeper.

Certainly not there yet... plently of experimentation yet to do, and might end up deciding that a visit to the Birdie cave of treasure is required, but not prepared to give up yet.

Seems that my hosting arrangements are suspect so the first taks will be to fix that!!!

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Postby PlatinumWeaver on Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:12 pm

Am I the only one that still cant see the picture?
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Postby Mj on Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:26 pm

Ok... looks like the hosting I was using is stuffed... time for a change care of Kristine and Pixspot...

My dragonflies will now be found here... Image

Only one to start and each morning I hope to do at least one more till I can nail the buggers !!!

Any constructive suggestions (within the intended constraints e.g. the dragonfly must be in flight) are most welcome.

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Postby Mj on Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:29 pm

Manta wrote:Same for me. I took some dragonfly shots myself a few days ago so I'm REALLY keen to see this pic!! :cry:


Manta... I would be very keen to see your dragonfly pics... is always useful to compare technique... success and failure !!!
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Postby petal666 on Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:50 pm

I managed to get some images of a nice dragonfly the other day but it was sitting on a plant.

[url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/petal666/General/IMG_8565.jpg]
Image
80kb[/url]

100% crop of the eyes
[url=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/petal666/General/IMG_8565_Crop.jpg]
Image
120kb[/url]

Taken with 10D and Sigma 180mm macro
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Postby Mj on Fri Jan 07, 2005 9:28 pm

Nice dragonfly petal... so what were the photo specs???
I realise your's wasn't in flight but still might be useful to know more about your shot settings.

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Postby petal666 on Fri Jan 07, 2005 9:32 pm

Because I was using a macro lens I had the camera in Aperature priority mode at f14 and a shutter speed of 1/200s and was using a flash to give me enough light.
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Postby sirhc55 on Fri Jan 07, 2005 9:35 pm

petal666 wrote:Because I was using a macro lens I had the camera in Aperature priority mode at f14 and a shutter speed of 1/200s and was using a flash to give me enough light.


Nice pics petal666 - there are lots of pics listed on the net of dragonflies and most of them are, as yours, sitting on a branch or whatever. Trying to photograph them flying is so much harder. But congrats to both you and Mj for attempting these flighty little creatures

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Postby pippin88 on Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:16 pm

Glen wrote:I'm a http://www.pixspot.com beleiver. Everything sorted, works well, provided by one of our very own members, Kristine, and the price is right for forum members, free. :D

It is worth my membership fee here at D70users.com just for the free image hosting. Now Woody, you're not paying for image hosting are you? That money could be better used for lens lust or Tsunami victims :idea:

Thanks for the site, looks very handy.
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Postby W00DY on Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:25 pm

Glen wrote: Now Woody, you're not paying for image hosting are you? That money could be better used for lens lust or Tsunami victims :idea:


Yeah I am paying :(

I set it all up before our very own wonderful Kristine mentioned PixSpot.

Trouble now is all our friends and family now the SmugMug page. But don't worry I will be transferring over once my 1st year is up (I have already paid).

I also plan to donate $100 to World Vision for SEA. Just waiting until I get paid next week :D

Seeya tomorrow.
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Postby Manta on Sat Jan 08, 2005 12:03 am

Mj wrote:Manta... I would be very keen to see your dragonfly pics... is always useful to compare technique... success and failure !!!


Hopeless effort on my part here but I really learned a lot while I shot off a dozen or so pictures. Used manual focus as 70-300G wasn't anywhere near quick enough. Handheld as well, so there's quite a bit of shake. The dragonfly was about 10m away flitting in and out of some reeds. He was only a little fella - doesn't look like the same species as the one in Mj's brilliant shot.

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