Another Migrant

This is a Male Migrant Hawker dragonfly taken on the banks of a local river yesterday. I’ve been trying to get a close up “in flight” shot of these for a while now using my 100-400mm. However, I found the images too small in the frame and the minimum focusing distance a handicap and I was getting frustrated. Also I didn’t want to crop too much and loose definition.

So not possessing extension tubes I decided to try my 180mm Macro + 1.4x extender hoping to get a close up shot. I waited ages hoping for one to hover close ideally within 2-3ft. I new I would have to manual focus with this combination so I pre-focused at this distance and waited. This one finally obliged for all of about 1-2 seconds enough for me to take this shot.

The were bright but in order to get a fast shutter speed at f11 I had to use a high ISO. I new the wings would be mainly lost due to limited DOF at this magnification but the rest is not bad although not perfect.

Settings f11, 1/1600 sec, ISO1600, MF, handheld, 10% crop to centre.

All comments welcome on how best to take this type of shot. I know patience is definitely high on the list something that is not one of my virtues but I’m learning.

Worth viewing large!

Brian

Title:	Another Migrant
Username:	brian usher
Uploaded:	22 Sep 2006 - 7:51 AM
Camera:	Canon EOS 5D
Lens:	180mm + 1.4x
Tags:	Close-up / macro, Dragonfly, In flight, Macro, Migrant hawker, Wildlife / nature
Votes:	38