# DragonFlies that I shot today at Two Ponds NWR - Comments welcome



## cgipson1 (Sep 1, 2011)

All shots ambient light and handheld...

First one I have managed to catch in the air.....  pure luck!


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## jrice12 (Sep 1, 2011)

IMHO...
#1 is in-flight which is rare to get.  Back-quarter view is ok here because it is "flying away" and so makes sense.
#2 Highlights harmed by lighting.  Wonder if close cropping on head would work (maybe not enough resolution).
#3 Good specimen but maybe not enough color contrast with weed(?). 
#4 Background is good and contrasts with subject (color).  Would have like the lighting to have gone in reverse (bright at lower-left, darker to the upper right).
#5 Color scheme works well here but exposure might be up too high.
#6 Good one.  Background is perfect, color contrasting is good, clarity is good, subject has interest.  Esp. like the angles of subject and stick ("Y").  Front eye slightly out of focus(?).


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## Robin Usagani (Sep 1, 2011)

Very nice.    I can't even focus on a still dragonfly and you manage to get one in the air.


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## cgipson1 (Sep 1, 2011)

jrice12 said:


> IMHO...
> #1 is in-flight which is rare to get.  Back-quarter view is ok here because it is "flying away" and so makes sense.
> #2 Highlights harmed by lighting.  Wonder if close cropping on head would work (maybe not enough resolution).
> #3 Good specimen but maybe not enough color contrast with weed(?).
> ...



Thanks for the feedback... I didn't do hardly any touch up except for crops, and a little sharpening.

Highlights were harsh on so many.. it was like 1pm in the afternoon, and HOT! Still fun though....!  Sunny days are best.. because I need to keep the shutter speed up, and I like keeping ISO as low as possible. These were all done with my 28-300, mostly at full zoom. Hard to get close to these guys.. I would love to use my Macro lens on them!


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## cgipson1 (Sep 1, 2011)

Schwettylens said:


> Very nice.    I can't even focus on a still dragonfly and you manage to get one in the air.



hahaha.. I got Lucky, Schwetty!   Two Ponds is right across the street from where I live.. so I go over there often. Come on over!


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## EquineArt (Sep 1, 2011)

Wow they are all awesome!
I share the same feeling as Schwettylens about trying to focus on them 
Very well done!


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## cgipson1 (Sep 1, 2011)

I took what JRice said.. and modded 3 and 5. Upped contrast, saturation.. and also got rid of some distracting highlights... 











Better? I have to admit my PP skills need work...


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## cgipson1 (Sep 1, 2011)

EquineArt said:


> Wow they are all awesome!
> I share the same feeling as Schwettylens about trying to focus on them
> Very well done!



Thank you, I appreciate it! It is good practice!


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## Robin Usagani (Sep 1, 2011)

you did quite a bit of digital crop right?  Your DOF is pretty deep.  Doesnt seem possible if you had shot it really close using macro.


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## 2WheelPhoto (Sep 1, 2011)

Wow, nice.  You should be a salesman for Tokina macro division 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




You just answered for me "how sharp  can a 100 2.8 shoot" and I'm already extremely pleased with my Tokina 11-16


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## cgipson1 (Sep 1, 2011)

Schwettylens said:


> you did quite a bit of digital crop right?  Your DOF is pretty deep.  Doesnt seem possible if you had shot it really close using macro.



Yes.. lots of crop on some of them! I am usually lucky to get within 2 to 3 feet of these guys... so use my long tele zoom.



2WheelPhoto said:


> Wow, nice.  You should be a salesman for Tokina macro division
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I was actually using my Nikon 28-300 zoom... I wish I could get close enough to them to use the Tokina... I would love it. Occasionally I will run into one that will let me close, but usually have the wrong lens on, lol! 

Yesterday was practice for Handheld shooting, Ambient light shooting, and working on the steadiness component of Handheld Shooting. So I didn't even try to change lens....   Maybe I will go over with my Macro lens today if I get a chance.... see if I can find a friendly one!


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## cgipson1 (Sep 1, 2011)

2WheelPhoto said:


> Wow, nice.  You should be a salesman for Tokina macro division
> 
> 
> 
> ...



This may give you some idea how sharp my Tokina 100 is! Tight crop on a Grasshopper picture... check out the texture on the cheeks! I love it!


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## 2WheelPhoto (Sep 1, 2011)

^^^nice!  did you have kenko extension tubes on the zoom lens for the dragonflies?


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## cgipson1 (Sep 1, 2011)

2WheelPhoto said:


> ^^^nice!  did you have kenko extension tubes on the zoom lens for the dragonflies?



Nope! Can't get that close to them... Extensions cut the usable focus range down quite a bit.


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## jrice12 (Sep 1, 2011)

May want to work with the gamma curves instead of bright/contrast for these as well.  For direct sunlight problems I find that a reverse "S" curve works well.  Increases dynamic range of low and high lights at the expens of the mid-tones.  This allows more detail at the bottom and top end and if you do it carefully you don't lose much in the mid-tones.  Also try gamma adjust on individual colors to see if you can bring a greater separation of background and body etc.


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## cgipson1 (Sep 1, 2011)

jrice12 said:


> May want to work with the gamma curves instead of bright/contrast for these as well.  For direct sunlight problems I find that a reverse "S" curve works well.  Increases dynamic range of low and high lights at the expens of the mid-tones.  This allows more detail at the bottom and top end and if you do it carefully you don't lose much in the mid-tones.  Also try gamma adjust on individual colors to see if you can bring a greater separation of background and body etc.



hahaha.. to be honest, that is beyond my current skills with PS... I am learning more every day, but haven't had time to sit down and get serious about it. When I started using a camera, Photoshop didn't exist yet... and I didn't start playing with it until a couple of years ago.. when a friend gave me his old version 6. I understand the concept of what you are saying.. just not sure how best to implement it! I am usually out shooting when I have free time... guess I need to allocate some time to hit the books on PS. Need to upgrade to CS5 too... but $$$ OUCH!  lol!


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## Mia331 (Sep 1, 2011)

Wow great job, I really like these! That is amazing to have captured the first one in flight and I really like the 4th one with the colors and it almost looks like he/she is smiling lol

The grasshopper is cool but kinda has freaky look to me...dont think I have ever seen one that close, crisp and clear! great job!

What settings did you have the camera set at for these shots? (aperture, shutter, iso etc..)


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## cgipson1 (Sep 1, 2011)

Mia331 said:


> Wow great job, I really like these! That is amazing to have captured the first one in flight and I really like the 4th one with the colors and it almost looks like he/she is smiling lol
> 
> The grasshopper is cool but kinda has freaky look to me...dont think I have ever seen one that close, crisp and clear! great job!
> 
> What settings did you have the camera set at for these shots? (aperture, shutter, iso etc..)



Thank you! I was shooting the Dragonflies in Aperture Priority.. as they move way too fast for me to be constantly changing things in manual...   Apertures ranged from F5.6 to F16 depending the light. My main goal was to keep the shutter speed above 250 and maintain some decent bokeh / DOF... which I why was was adjusting the aperture. ISO ranged from 100 to 640, again depending on the light and how much DOF I wanted.

The Grasshopper was actually shot with my macro lens, Manual mode with flash sync speed of 250, F22 and ISO 400 using a diffused SB-900, in case you are interested.


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## Mia331 (Sep 1, 2011)

Thanks! Good to know


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## cgipson1 (Sep 3, 2011)

jrice12 said:


> May want to work with the gamma curves instead of bright/contrast for these as well.  For direct sunlight problems I find that a reverse "S" curve works well.  Increases dynamic range of low and high lights at the expens of the mid-tones.  This allows more detail at the bottom and top end and if you do it carefully you don't lose much in the mid-tones.  Also try gamma adjust on individual colors to see if you can bring a greater separation of background and body etc.



I have been playing with your suggestion.. but not happy with the results. If you would like to do an edit on the ones above... feel free, that would give me an example and something to shoot for...  Thanks!


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## Thunder_o_b (Feb 24, 2012)

You do seem to have a talent for catching them in flight Charlie


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## ArtphotoasiA (Mar 10, 2012)

Really amazing shot.... make me want to try macro!


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## cgipson1 (Mar 10, 2012)

ArtphotoasiA said:


> Really amazing shot.... make me want to try macro!



Thank you!


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## TheFantasticG (Mar 10, 2012)

I saw the thread, got excited, checked the date on the op, got deflated... on the other hand, I do like #1 and #3. #3 the most of the dragons for the composition and focus on the wings. Dead center is deadly? Not in #3 to these eyes.


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