Finnish Odonata pt 1

[j.ankanpaa]

Hello all!

Long time no post...

#1 I´m not quite sure what happened here, I think it´s possible another male tried to chase him away and he responded by lifting his abdomen like that, but I was looking through the VF so didn´t see what was happening around him. Onychogomphus forcipatus:

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#2 Another male Onychogomphus forcipatus:

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#3 Female Onychogomphus forcipatus:

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#4 Male Ophiogomphus cecilia, always so happy :smile:

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#5 Female Ophiogomphus cecilia:

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#6 This older lady is a Libellula depressa:

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#7 Libellula fulva copula:

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#8 I have rarely had such a luck to see an Aeshna species emerging, seen hundreds of exuvias though. This one is a male Aeshna juncea:

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#9 A male Aeshna juncea in flight:

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#10 A male Aeshna subarctica doing the same:

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All shots taken with a D7000 + Nikkor 300mm AF-S F4.

Thanks for looking!!! :smile:

 

[juanmanuel]

Superb! Nothing short of amazing!
That is to say, excellent shot, composition, theme, colours, beautiful beastie... sigh... I want to be this good one day...

 

[cbbr]

Fantastic set Jukka! The flying shots are great!

 

[wizzard0003]

Very nice work...! :smile:

 

[Tigris]

Wow indeed... I have never come anywhere close to shots like this with that lens (lack of skill clearly). Did you use extension tubes at all?

 

[Bob Coutant]

Great shots from the Odonata Master.

Good to see again, Jukka -- I was beginning to wonder what you were up to.:smile:

 

[kilofoxtrott]

Fantastic shots Jukka.
I'm a big dragonfly and damselfly fan.

Can you give me a hint please how you've made that flying pictures?
How do you focus, etc...

Thank you in advance
Klaus

 

[tmldds]

Excellent macro work with #6 and #8, outstanding.

 

[sunmay]

Wonderful series!!! Bravissimo!!!

 

[Naptown]

In #1 the end of the tail reminds me of a dragon in a Chinese New Year parade.

 

[SK Photo]

Superb



thats all I got.

 

[j.ankanpaa]

Thank you all!

Wow indeed... I have never come anywhere close to shots like this with that lens (lack of skill clearly). Did you use extension tubes at all?

Hmm... I´m not sure to be honest... I do remember that I used a tube (PN-11) when shooting #s 3 and 8 but not sure if those particular shots were shot with a tube...

Fantastic shots Jukka.
I'm a big dragonfly and damselfly fan.

Can you give me a hint please how you've made that flying pictures?
How do you focus, etc...

Thank you in advance
Klaus

First I have to tell you about those species. They both have very similar in-flight behaviour, they both hover still often and are somewhat predictable. So, knowing different species, their habits is important. Usually when going at a location to shoot in-flight shots I ID these hovering species at first. Then try to see about their territories and which are the points of their flying roots they hover the most often. Then just go as close as possible without disrupting them and get ready...

I use a tripod, also when doing in-flight shots. Focus is a combination of MF/AF. I keep my focus plane at the minimum distance and when a dragon comes to shooting distance I manually move the focus plane forward until I get the dragon somewhat clear in the VF and then hit the shutter button and let the AF do its job. Focus mode is continuous. Still lot of misses though as a D7000 is not exactly a pro cam with a pro AF, it still "goes through" often and focuses into the background. And ofcourse the dragons are not perfectly still when hovering, it´s actually very rapid although small movements just about any direction so I think it´s not that easy task for an AF system...

That´s about it... technique is a big factor here but as I said also finding species suitable for in-flight shooting is equally important...

 

[Rob Zijlstra]

Jukka, what a beautiful set!

 

[alexf]

Beautiful set Juka!
Very well done.

 

[pictureted]

Superb.

 

[dossy]

In #1 the end of the tail reminds me of a dragon in a Chinese New Year parade.

+1! Each one of these is a gem! Besides great comps and detail, you have some amazing captures!

 

[threecats]

Always a treat seeing your stuff.

 

[j.ankanpaa]

Thanks and bows