Blue Dasher
Blue Dasher dragonfly sitting on top of an upward branch of a bush.
Blue Dasher dragonfly sitting on top of an upward branch of a bush.
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Aug, 2016Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken at Norfolk Botanical Gardens while I was interning under a professional photographer at the time, in 2003 or 2004.Time
The shot was taken sometime in the late afternoon/early evening while strolling around the gardens.Lighting
I saw the dragonfly, which I didn't know what kind it was at the time, but it was beautifully colored and sitting for quite a while on top of a plant, so I saw my opportunity to approach it for the shot. The lighting was open shade, so harsh lighting was blocked.Equipment
I had my Canon 100mm Macro lens on my Canon Rebel at the time, so I was able to get close and take the shot handheld. The 100mm macro was a new lens for me and I was loving the new experience with it.Inspiration
When I saw the dragonfly continue to sit there, unaffected by my movement, not extremely skittish as other insects that I tried to photograph, I saw it as an opportunity to capture an image of it for practice with my new 100mm Macro lens.Editing
When I viewed the image, opening it in Lightroom, I was extremely pleased, because of the detail and the effect of the shallow depth of field that was captured in it. I did not have extensive knowledge of post processing yet, but adjusted the exposure and the sharpness a little, and then exported to jpg.In my camera bag
I started out with Canon products and have stuck with that brand. I feel comfortable with them and like the quality of Canon. At the time of the shot, I had progressed past regular point and shoot cameras, like Powershot models, to an intermediate between point and shoot and professional changeable lens cameras. During the shoot when I captured the image, I was walking around with only the Rebel with the 100mm Macro lens, and of course, the neck strap.Feedback
I have shot many dragonfly photos since this one that was taken in my early years of learning photography. I prefer now to shoot with back button focus, where I can make sure the eyes are sharp, and make sure that I am not closer than the minimum focus distance from the subject. I love the shallow depth of field and the green blurry bokeh beyond the wings. In my early excitement, I may have approached just a little too closely for the minimum focus distance of the lens to the subject. The 100 Macro lens is a wonderful lens to capture nature shots, like flowers and insects. It's also wonderful for portraits. Prime lenses give you the better quality images where you can use them, but I generally use zoom lenses for variable changing scenes most often. For shots like this, sharp focus on the eyes is most important and the closer you are to the subject will produce a shallower depth of field in your image, creating more blurred bokeh in the image.
