Thanks, Tabbie. Sometimes the dragons will stay put for a photo and sometimes not. I’ve found that if I station myself in an area they seem to be interested in and remain motionless, often they will land near and sit awhile as these did. The trick then is to remember to photograph them instead of just looking in fascination!
Sara,
These were taken in two locations about 30 miles apart, and I was lucky to find patient dragons! I thought the little guy with wing damage might have had a battle with the Red Baron (or Snoopy). Whichever, it didn’t seem to bother him at all, or at least not to my untrained eye.
I wish I knew the practical reasons for their colors. The blue on the one and the yellow patches on the others are almost florescent.
what INCREDIBLE pictures!! you are an awesome photographer! thanks for sharing these beautiful picts w/ us!! (what is that second one-first dragonfly-on?) do you have an “action” mode on your camera?
The first three “dragon” photos were taken at a large pond on the edge of a big ranch. The rancher draws water from it for irrigating his hay fields and that dragon was resting on a large hose from the pump area to the irrigation lines.
I do have an “action” or “sport” function on my camera but I very seldom use it unless I expect to get a chance to get a shot at an animal and need the speed of the auto functions. For nearly all flower photos (and the dragon flies) I use a semi-manual macro function that I really like. It lets me use the auto-exposure setting in a “spot” mode, or a very tiny area in the center of the frame, a “selectable” focus area, again in a very small area, and an over-ride on exposure so I can go darker or lighter than the auto wants to. I guess it’s true for everything, but for close-ups, the right exposure means everything.
cool. I am not that familiar w/ my camera! (sad isn’t it!)
I guess that explains why I could not figure out what that dragon fly was on! kind of reminds me of those Highlights photos where you have to guess what the picture is…
Don’t feel bad, Silken. It took me a long time too to figure out the best way to get the camera to do what I wanted. Lots of experimenting, but that’s feasible with digital, where it would be far too expensive with film. I also feel that the instructions/manual with my camera is very poor.
Yup. I found the online information equally poor. I think the problem is that the manuals are written by the engineers who designed them not the poor souls who will be using them.
Fabulous!
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Comment by wildstorm — July 25, 2008 @ 5:11 pm
Thanks!
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Comment by montucky — July 25, 2008 @ 8:13 pm
[…] bookmarks tagged montana Colorful, and not quite so… saved by 2 others kairi311 bookmarked on 07/26/08 | […]
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Pingback by Pages tagged "montana" — July 26, 2008 @ 12:43 am
They never hold still long enough for me, LOL. I guess I am still learning the art of the photographic capture…
…but yours are simply marvelous! I love your photography! Dragonflies are amazing little beasts, and I have loved them for as long as I can remember.
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Comment by Tabbie — July 26, 2008 @ 12:44 am
Wow! Those are some amazing pictures. That’s some lightning quick camera work to capture them. 😀
Did you see if the one with half of one wing missing flew away? I wonder how much of a handicap that is for it.
And the blue one on the bottom is just beautiful! What a fabulous color.
Thanks!
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Comment by Sara — July 26, 2008 @ 6:50 am
Thanks, Tabbie. Sometimes the dragons will stay put for a photo and sometimes not. I’ve found that if I station myself in an area they seem to be interested in and remain motionless, often they will land near and sit awhile as these did. The trick then is to remember to photograph them instead of just looking in fascination!
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Comment by montucky — July 26, 2008 @ 7:10 am
Sara,
These were taken in two locations about 30 miles apart, and I was lucky to find patient dragons! I thought the little guy with wing damage might have had a battle with the Red Baron (or Snoopy). Whichever, it didn’t seem to bother him at all, or at least not to my untrained eye.
I wish I knew the practical reasons for their colors. The blue on the one and the yellow patches on the others are almost florescent.
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Comment by montucky — July 26, 2008 @ 7:15 am
Ohhhh, what beauties! 😀
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Comment by Sumedh — July 26, 2008 @ 7:19 am
I had never really thought of insects as beautiful – thanks for giving me a new perspective! Stunning photos!
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Comment by Sandy — July 26, 2008 @ 10:47 am
Sumedh,
They are, aren’t they! I especially like these because they don’t bite!
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Comment by montucky — July 26, 2008 @ 1:05 pm
They are intricate little things, and I find the wing patterns fascinating.
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Comment by montucky — July 26, 2008 @ 1:07 pm
what INCREDIBLE pictures!! you are an awesome photographer! thanks for sharing these beautiful picts w/ us!! (what is that second one-first dragonfly-on?) do you have an “action” mode on your camera?
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Comment by silken — July 26, 2008 @ 2:52 pm
Thanks, Silken!
The first three “dragon” photos were taken at a large pond on the edge of a big ranch. The rancher draws water from it for irrigating his hay fields and that dragon was resting on a large hose from the pump area to the irrigation lines.
I do have an “action” or “sport” function on my camera but I very seldom use it unless I expect to get a chance to get a shot at an animal and need the speed of the auto functions. For nearly all flower photos (and the dragon flies) I use a semi-manual macro function that I really like. It lets me use the auto-exposure setting in a “spot” mode, or a very tiny area in the center of the frame, a “selectable” focus area, again in a very small area, and an over-ride on exposure so I can go darker or lighter than the auto wants to. I guess it’s true for everything, but for close-ups, the right exposure means everything.
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Comment by montucky — July 26, 2008 @ 3:50 pm
cool. I am not that familiar w/ my camera! (sad isn’t it!)
I guess that explains why I could not figure out what that dragon fly was on! kind of reminds me of those Highlights photos where you have to guess what the picture is…
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Comment by silken — July 26, 2008 @ 8:39 pm
Don’t feel bad, Silken. It took me a long time too to figure out the best way to get the camera to do what I wanted. Lots of experimenting, but that’s feasible with digital, where it would be far too expensive with film. I also feel that the instructions/manual with my camera is very poor.
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Comment by montucky — July 26, 2008 @ 8:44 pm
I agree about the instruction manual! even looking up help on line is sometimes tricky.
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Comment by silken — July 27, 2008 @ 3:50 pm
Yup. I found the online information equally poor. I think the problem is that the manuals are written by the engineers who designed them not the poor souls who will be using them.
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Comment by montucky — July 27, 2008 @ 3:56 pm