Dragonfly Wings
Shot at the Riparian in Gilbert, AZ
Shot at the Riparian in Gilbert, AZ
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Mar, 2014Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at the Riparian Preserve in Gilbert, AZ. I am an amateur photographer and I was even more amateur when this picture was taken. I am currently trying to find new things to shoot so that I can learn as much as possible.Time
This picture was taken in the early afternoon when the sun was still fairly high in the sky. This was one of the first times that I had taken a picture of anything that could move on its own. I did not have a tripod, but this little guy landed just a few feet down the trail from me. He stayed there for what seemed like forever and as you can imagine, this was not the only picture that I took.Lighting
When this picture was taken, I was still fairly new to photography. Since the dragonfly decided to stay in the same spot for a while, I decided to play around with some of the settings including shutter speed and aperture. I love how the background contrasts the crispness of the wings. There was no lighting except natural light used for this shot.Equipment
This shot was taken with a Canon EOS Rebel T3 with a 55-250mm f/4-5.6 lens. No tripod, flash or other equipment was used.Inspiration
To be honest, I did not go out on this hike looking to take a picture of a dragonfly. I was in between shots when the dragonfly just set down right on the bush up in front of me. It seemed like such a perfect coincidence that I had to pull my camera up to get a shot. After I realized that he wasn't going to be moving anytime soon, I decided to make this my practice shot for trying some different techniques.Editing
I usually enjoy pictures just as they are from the camera, although it may have something to do with the fact that I am pretty lousy at post-processing. For this image, there was no editing done. Sometimes in sunny settings (such as Arizona), I have noticed that the sun is hard to deal with as it washes out color easily. This picture was taken with a quick shutter speed to keep as much light out as possible while still allowing the colors to be seen.In my camera bag
When I first got my Canon T3 I bought a fairly large camera bag to go with it. I did not need the space at the time but I like the upper storage space that I use for food and water while hiking. The bag can hold one camera body, four lenses and strap a tripod to the outside. I have the standard 18-55mm lens that I do not use so much anymore. My favorite lens to use is my 55-250mm lens. I love the range that it has and the quality is so much better than the kit lens. The newest lens that I carry is a 40mm lens which takes amazing pictures and you cannot even tell it is there. My least used lens, but possibly the funnest, is a 8mm fisheye. I have loved fisheye photography for a long time, and I am trying to get as much practice with it as I can.Feedback
I am probably the last person that should be giving photography advice. I will say that it is one thing to watch videos and read tutorials and it is a completely different thing to just head out with your camera and try it out for yourself. Whether it was naive or brilliant, when I first got my camera I went out without even reading the manual and just started messing with it to see what each setting did. It was amazing how much I learned from just a couple of photography outings. With regards to this photograph, the depth of the background played a pretty big role in how it turned out. Sometimes it is not about how you set the camera up, but more about how you set the image up.
