Insect

[Jleon99]

It was very dificult to find the main object in the viewfinder and were few seconds to shoot.

[Peter Ryan]

Welcome to CiC and thanks for posting the image.

If you have a look at your profile page there is room to include your real name and it will appear under your member info at left margin. We normally try and address people by their first names.

So I can comment properly can you please let me know what camera and lens you used for this image and if you do any post production i.e. Photoshop or another program.

[Jleon99]

John:
Thanks for taking your time to comment my picture, I appreciate that because, I bought a Nikon D3100 with the idea to learn about photography which always has been my passion admiring other people creations.
Camera: NIKON D3100
Len: 55-200mm F4-5.6G
Focal length was 200mm.
F5.6
I did not edit the shot, only cropped.
Do you want to see the entire shot? it has other elements that I considered distractions for the main object.

[DippyRebel]

Hello Javier,

Lovely little damselfly - been ages here since I saw one and I can't wait until spring! I think the main problem you had was being so far away from it, so it's got a bit lost in the picture! I find that damselflies are easier to to shoot when they're on vegetation close to the edge of the water and I can sneak up on them until they fill the frame. I'm not familiar with the lens you're using - what is the minimum distance between it and the subject to allow focussing? You may find that it doesn't allow you to get close enough to small subjects.

I can give you more help with camera settings and things that could improve things if you want, so if you have any specific questions I'm happy to help if I can.

[maloufn]

This is a small cockroach taking refuge in side a flower. Handheld 1/250 sec Canon 100 mm Macro Canon 50D. Comments and Criticism please!!!

[Jleon99]

Thanks for your advice to get closet to the subject; indeed I used a lens 55-200mm F4-5.6; however I do not know how to calculate the minimum distance for that lens. Would you elaborate more in that concept?

[maloufn]

Javier,

This shot was taken with a 100mm Macro lens (made for closeups) and then cropped. I dont do any calculating of any minimum distances using any lens. What you see in your viefinder is what you are going to get and then of course you have cropping and hence the importance of good sharp capture to start out with. May be others can help you more. Keep trying and remember one thing : try and fill your frame as much as possible for these closeups. Happy shooting.

Nasseem

[Katy Noelle]

Hi, Javier and welcome, from me, to CiC!

I think that what Rachel is asking is, how close can you get to your subject, with your lens, before it won't focus anymore. For example, with my one simple 18-55mm kit lens, I can't get any closer than about 4 inches. If I get any closer, it won't focus. She may be asking because, it would really help if you got a closer capture of the insect. Then, you will only have to crop a little and your subject will still be clear (not a bunch of tiny pixels.) With the photo that you have, now, it will be hard to crop in and have a luminous, tack sharp image. However, I think that you can't get really close to a dragonfly, anyway.

Rachel, I have noticed, has some beautiful macro photography and I bet that she could give better advice than me. Also, here are some other amazing and similar photos. I hope that they're inspiring.

Dragonfly's

And, Dave had some good advice about trying to catch a good shot of a dragonfly/damselfly and I can't find his "long version". Here's his short confession of how he does it.

It's a Small World (share your macros!)

I hope that I've helped a tiny bit!

[DippyRebel]

Katy - yes, that was what I was trying to ask, but not in such good words as yours . And thanks for your kind words too.

It is possible to get close to dragonflies/damselflies, although some species are far more obliging than others. It's worth watching their behaviour and getting to know where they prefer to alight, then wait patiently for them to return and settle. I find that as long as my movements are slow they will usually accept a lens approaching them quite closely. In fact, some of them (particularly darters) will intently stare at the lens and their eyes will flick around as they take a good look.

Hawkers on warm sunny days are a bit of a nightmare to photograph because they tend to be storming around either hunting or patrolling territory. Far better to catch them when it's cooler. Some of the hawkers though, such as Migrant, will often hover in the same spot (checking out the photographer!) and can be captured relatively easily doing that... although I haven't managed a great shot yet, so perhaps a goal for next year.

When I started out I just had a Canon A640 P&S and even with that managed some fairly decent shots - having to approach incredibly close (within cms of the subject). Here's a Common Blue damselfly taken with that camera (slightly cropped), not brilliant but it encouraged me to keep trying!:



I suppose what I'm trying to say is get to know how the subject behaves and be patient!

Thanks also for the links to those other threads

[Katy Noelle]

Rachel, that's brilliant and fascinating! Thank you for sharing those thoughts and advice - now, I'm inspired. (There won't be any bugs around for a while, now, though.) Actually, have I seen this photo before? I seem to remember loving the one his legs are holding onto the stalk of grass. It looks like a great photo, to me.

[DippyRebel]

I'm desperate for bug season to start again!

The photo is on my Flickr & Zenfolio sites, but I suspect there are quite a few shots by other people that look pretty similar. Not easy to make a damselfly on a blade of grass look original! (Well, for me it's not, anyway.)

[Dave Humphries]

That's a great one Rachel, I've never got that close, although our methods are uncannily similar.

Here's one I got while I was "being checked out";

Nikon D5000 + Sigma 18-250mm VC: 1/4000s f/6.3 at 250mm iso400
F11 and click image to see at 1,262px × 841px

It was achieved with a large dollop of good fortune

Despite trying, I've not been able to come close to repeating it since I took this in Aug 2009.

Cheers,