Dragons + 1 other

[Bobobird]

Some dragons from yesterday.

Was out into the heavy woods looking for signs of owls or deer. No luck there but will try again as it is a fairly large area.

Very heavy shade all over with just shafts of light here and there. Luckily the dragons took up position where it mattered. On the negative side, these smart buggers chose places that were on the edge of steep drops so did not have much leeway with different angles.

Overall a frustrating experience with nothing much to show from nearly 3 hours of walking around. All my newbiness was on full display.

BUT... there is always tomorrow. haha







And the BIGGEST ever fungus that I have ever seen. About 6 inches tall and 3-4 inches wide.

[ktuli]

Bobobird,

First off - what's your first name so we can properly/politely address you? You can put your first name in your profile.

As for the flies - I actually think they might be damselflies. The general rule of thumb is that if it folds its wings down when at rest, it is a damselfly. Dragonflies will keep their wings out perpendicular to their body at rest. There are probably exceptions, but off hand I don't know of any.

It looks like you had some extremely harsh lighting there - for such little creatures, those are some dramatic shadows. However, your focus looks good on the shots - being able to see the hairs on the legs of the fly is definitely a good sign.

Finally, with the mushroom, it is actually impossible to get an idea of scale in this shot because the only subject is the mushroom. In a case like this where you want to show the size of something (particularly things that come in all different sizes), you need to provide some sort of reference point.

Nice work for what looks like it was incredibly difficult conditions. Looking forward to seeing what you get tomorrow...

- Bill

[Bobobird]

Thanks Bill - just call me Bobo. Profile updated.

Yes, damselflies - was wondering about the wings too but could not put a name to it. Thanks for that.

About the mushroom - I certainly tried to get a reference but the thing was just 2-3 inches off a steep drop and there was nothing in its immediate vicinity. Was already low on the ground without having to sit into the mud. hehe

Yes tomorrow is a distinct possibility so will try a repeat. But target of tomorrow is to first checkup on a pair of cygnets and their nest to see if the eggs have hatched.

[Geoff F]

I'm not sure about non UK species, Bobo, but those seem a bit like a Demoiselle species to me. A sub branch of the Damselfly family.

Anyway, when in tricky light I normally use flash; in fact I now use flash for most of my macro work. It enables me to happily work around 1/250, F14 and ISO 100. But it does take a bit of experimentation to get everything 'in balance'. I usually set everything in manual then adjust the flash output until it looks correct.

Metering is always difficult with these shiny species at the best of times so you have done well here.

And the fungi has worked perfectly.

But a word of warning about macro photography. It all starts with a couple of innocent quick shots; but then you want more. And you are hooked! Then it starts to get expensive.