dragon-fly

[Eduardo Rijo]

In this photo my goal was to get it sharper as possible ... What do you think? sharpen enough? Or could it be better?

[Geoff F]

Ideally, Eduardo, I would like to see the eyes a little sharper.

I can't find any exif details in this photo. So what were the settings and did you use a tripod? I find that is essential for sharpness.

[jeeperman]

A good capture, great light...but I do agree the eyes are slightly softer than optimal. Along with a tripod I might try a little narrower aperature. Not much but enough to ensure atleast the full eye is in focus.

[Eduardo Rijo]

Thank you,

Yes, I think the mistake was that I did not use the tripod ... I also used f5 ... f8 might have been a little better?

[Geoff F]

Ideally, Eduardo, for a shot like that I would use F14, certainly not wider than F11. Which often involves using flash or increasing the Iso.

But all of that depends on your actual camera and lens.

[Eduardo Rijo]

Ideally, Eduardo, for a shot like that I would use F14, certainly not wider than F11. Which often involves using flash or increasing the Iso.

But all of that depends on your actual camera and lens.

Thanks Geoff, unfortunately not yet have an external flash, I'm just shooting with my Canon 1100D, with a Tamaron 70-300 with macro ...This was taken very early in the morning, there was little light and with this lens (5,6), I have to raise the ISO too much for this type of foto, which in my camara is not a very good option ... I have to buy a flash ... : D

[Geoff F]

When I'm without an external flash unit I am still able to shoot with the camera 'pop up flash'.

If close to the subject, I remove the lens hood in case it might cause a shadow problem.

Otherwise, I manually set the camera settings (typically 1/200 F14 Iso 400) then slightly tweak the flash output to suit.

Maybe not quite so good as an external flash sometimes; but it usually works quite well. Have an experiment and see what you think.

[wlou]

When I'm without an external flash unit I am still able to shoot with the camera 'pop up flash'.

If close to the subject, I remove the lens hood in case it might cause a shadow problem.

Otherwise, I manually set the camera settings (typically 1/200 F14 Iso 400) then slightly tweak the flash output to suit.

Maybe not quite so good as an external flash sometimes; but it usually works quite well. Have an experiment and see what you think.

May I ask Geoff, would f14 not show too much of the background? I like the bubbly effect on this one.

[Geoff F]

It depends on the distance to the background, Louise. But from that angle we have a long insect and actual focus depth is usually quite shallow when photographing close up.

With some lenses, it can be well under 1 ins at F14.

[evan47]

well, yes it could be a lot sharper. i have spent quite a lot of time chasing dragonflies this year.
which point did you attempt to focus on? to me at least. the stick it is perched upon seems vaguely in focus, the rest is way too soft.
i normally focus on the eyes, aperture set at f9 to f14. generally at between 1/4 to 1 metre from the subject.
i try not to use flash, instead i use the auto iso function on my d7000 or d90.
insect photography is not that easy, it takes practice to get good results. better luck next time!