Great shots Mike. Been wanting to try Dragonflies in flight for a while. I have lots of birds in flight, but Dragonflies are whole new challenge. I am using a Tamron 18-400 zoom with a Canon 90D DSLR.
Thanks for your kind words. Your setup should work well for capturing shots of dragonflies in flight, though, of course, it is never easy and requires some practice to track the dragonflies when they are flying, especially when your lens is zoomed out all the way. Good luck!
Stunning Dragonfly pictures! I really need to grab my gear now and photograph them in my garden. There are a lot of them buzzing by en route to the ponds of my neighbors. Greetings from the rural Germany.
Thanks so much for your kind words. It definitely is worthwhile to go out and try to get in flight shots and it feels so good when you manage to get a few good ones. Yesterday, in fact, I spent quite a while photographing dragonflies in flight. I wasn't super successful, but enjoyed the process a lot.
Thanks, Tom. I love photographing dragonflies and have photographed well over a dozen species this season. I mostly do still photography, but am now trying to do some video too. I'll try to meet your desire for more. :)
I totally agree. As I noted in the video, it's mostly a combination of patience, persistence, and a bit of luck. I have seen that some photographers with high end mirrorless cameras with really good focusing systems and a high burst rate are able to get really good results, but I am content to us a lower-tech old-fashioned technique.
Thanks for sharing your tips Mike. The Canon SX50HS Power Shot was my first camera, and I miss it still to this day even with my Sony mirrorless that I have now, it was an absolute fabulous camera. I tried to get Canon to fix it last year, but they said that it was expired and that they were not prepared to fix it. So I guess after 5 years some cameras become "expired."
Thanks, Gail. I used my SX50HS as my secondary camera, carrying it along with my DSLR for many years and also used it when I was traveling. It was lightweight and versatile, but it got banged up one time and eventually the lens wouldn't retract correctly. I think that Canon has "expiration" dates for most of its gear, including expensive lens, probably because they don't have a big stock of repair parts.
The alpine swift is among my favourite birds, trying to photograph them in flight has been my biggest photography challenge so far. It’s easy to get their silhouettes against the sky, but I’ve found getting a detailed shot is near on impossible.
Birds in flight is definitely as big a challenge as photographing dragonflies in flight and in many cases are even harder to capture. I don't have experience with alpine swifts, but know that the difficulties in tracking small, fast birds. If you haven't seen it, I recommend a video by photographer entitled Climbing a Cliff to Photograph the World's Fastest Bird in which he chronicles his adventures to photograph White-throated Swifts. ua-cam.com/video/YWbv8zGsHgs/v-deo.html
Thanks so much. It takes a lot of practice to get the proper hand-to-eye coordination to photograph such a small moving subject. Timing is important, but the biggest problem is getting the images in focus. In the past I often resorted to manual focusing and had some limited success with that approach. It is a touch challenge, but it is so rewarding when I manage to get a good shot.
Great shots Mike. Been wanting to try Dragonflies in flight for a while. I have lots of birds in flight, but Dragonflies are whole new challenge. I am using a Tamron 18-400 zoom with a Canon 90D DSLR.
Thanks for your kind words. Your setup should work well for capturing shots of dragonflies in flight, though, of course, it is never easy and requires some practice to track the dragonflies when they are flying, especially when your lens is zoomed out all the way. Good luck!
Stunning Dragonfly pictures! I really need to grab my gear now and photograph them in my garden. There are a lot of them buzzing by en route to the ponds of my neighbors.
Greetings from the rural Germany.
Thanks so much for your kind words. It definitely is worthwhile to go out and try to get in flight shots and it feels so good when you manage to get a few good ones. Yesterday, in fact, I spent quite a while photographing dragonflies in flight. I wasn't super successful, but enjoyed the process a lot.
Excellent video!!! Need more! 👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thanks, Tom. I love photographing dragonflies and have photographed well over a dozen species this season. I mostly do still photography, but am now trying to do some video too. I'll try to meet your desire for more. :)
Not impossible, just difficult!!!
I totally agree. As I noted in the video, it's mostly a combination of patience, persistence, and a bit of luck. I have seen that some photographers with high end mirrorless cameras with really good focusing systems and a high burst rate are able to get really good results, but I am content to us a lower-tech old-fashioned technique.
Thanks for sharing your tips Mike. The Canon SX50HS Power Shot was my first camera, and I miss it still to this day even with my Sony mirrorless that I have now, it was an absolute fabulous camera. I tried to get Canon to fix it last year, but they said that it was expired and that they were not prepared to fix it. So I guess after 5 years some cameras become "expired."
Thanks, Gail. I used my SX50HS as my secondary camera, carrying it along with my DSLR for many years and also used it when I was traveling. It was lightweight and versatile, but it got banged up one time and eventually the lens wouldn't retract correctly. I think that Canon has "expiration" dates for most of its gear, including expensive lens, probably because they don't have a big stock of repair parts.
Beautiful pics.try to take pics of bumblebee.
Here's a link to a little video I captured that has a bee and a hummingbird clearwing moth. ua-cam.com/video/hMhF6z6Cm5I/v-deo.html
The alpine swift is among my favourite birds, trying to photograph them in flight has been my biggest photography challenge so far.
It’s easy to get their silhouettes against the sky, but I’ve found getting a detailed shot is near on impossible.
Birds in flight is definitely as big a challenge as photographing dragonflies in flight and in many cases are even harder to capture. I don't have experience with alpine swifts, but know that the difficulties in tracking small, fast birds. If you haven't seen it, I recommend a video by photographer entitled Climbing a Cliff to Photograph the World's Fastest Bird in which he chronicles his adventures to photograph White-throated Swifts. ua-cam.com/video/YWbv8zGsHgs/v-deo.html
@@MichaelQPowell Thanks Michael, I’ll definitely have a look at that 👍
cool images - thanks for sharing your intel :)
Thanks, Doug. No matter what techniques I use. it's still a challenging, but rewarding task.
These are amazing shots. Getting them at the right time and the right angle is an art form
Thanks so much. It takes a lot of practice to get the proper hand-to-eye coordination to photograph such a small moving subject. Timing is important, but the biggest problem is getting the images in focus. In the past I often resorted to manual focusing and had some limited success with that approach. It is a touch challenge, but it is so rewarding when I manage to get a good shot.