Photographing Dragonflies

[ilia123]

Hi everyone,

I've recently stumbled onto a new hobby of photographing dragonflies and damselflies (unfortunately not so much of the former but more of the latter) - you can some photos here if you are interested: Dragonflies - a set on Flickr

From my experience whenever it is sunny and warm the damsels and dragons come out and I'm able to get some shots. I've found that they are quite easy to get a photo of when mating. However I'm not able to approach the dragonflies (only have 60mm and 100mm macros) too close as they fly away.

So I decided to try and get a photograph of them when they are roosting (and maybe even covered in dew - seen some amazing shots). I'm guessing that I will be able to get certain shots that I really want (filling the frame with them, 1:1 macro shot, etc).

However I'm not sure how to find them when they are roosting as I have only been able to get a photo of them when it is sunny. I mostly take photos of them at the London Wetland Centre and the opening hours there are are from 9 to 6 I think. However, there is a small pond near to my house which I can get to at before sunrise however I have a feeling I won't find any dragons there.

I would really appreciate some tips on getting shots of roosting dragons and damsels!

Thanks

[Geoff F]

You have some good close up shots there.

From my experience, in the true wild, where people are relatively uncommon, even damsels can be tricky to approach. I struggle with a 180 mm lens.

Catching them when they are still a bit cold in the morning or later when they are 'sleeping off a heavy meal' can work if you are lucky. But getting to know the likely locations takes a lot of time and patience. Some ponds/streams look good but rarely produce anything while other areas some distance away can be better.

The Gold-ringed Dragonfly is usually a good subject which can be found well away from water. Broad Bodied Chasers can unexpectantly appear at disappointing looking sites.

Apart from that it is really just a case of putting in a lot of time.

One thing that I find with damselflies is that if you do slightly disturb them, remain still and they will often return to the same, or closer spot.

The only other advice I can suggest is always try to get at 90 degrees to them so you get more in focus with the shallow depth of field of macro lenses.

[david156]

Totally agree with Geoff.

I use the canon 100 - 400 zoom for dragonflies and have had some pleasing results.


This was about seven feet away. It kept landing on some flattened mole hills and one particular plant, so I just laid flat across the path and waited less than a minute for it to settle again.


These were about ten feet away with me carefully balance on the bank of a ditch in some reeds and sedges. They kept landing in the same place so it was just a question of time.

But the main thing you need is patience and if your in the right place they can come really close. Some have come so close I haven't been far enough away to focus.
Last week a Norfolk Hawker landed on the end of my lens hood for a couple of seconds whilst I sat there. All I need now is a second camera with a macro. They are even more amazing that close!!!

Cheers David