Real close up dragonfly photos

[Equilibrium]

Check this out, Dragonflies of North America. It is sooooo hard to get photos of dragonflies even with putting out perches for them. Get too close and off they go!!!!

[Equilibrium]

This one isn't the same quality as those other ones but.... I liked the colors in it.

[NEWisc]

It is sooooo hard to get photos of dragonflies even with putting out perches for them. Get too close and off they go!!!!

But we've got the Jewels of the Sky (Dragonflies and Damselflies) Photo Contest starting in July, so those perches have got to work!

[havalotta]

We need perches set up for our cameras too! I'm not that steady to get shots of that quality.
Just being out in nature is why I enjoy doing it.

[Equilibrium]

The person who took those photos probably had a 10k camera.... look at what we paid for our cameras. I ran into a lady who had a 30k camera in HI. We went up on a chopper together. She was changing lenses and asked me to hold one for her. I did. I asked her how much a lens like that cost. I don't remember what she said the lens I was holding cost but I clutched it to my chest with two hands and she laughed. Big difference in our cameras and the cameras diehards use. If I get a halfway decent photo that I don't delete by accident.... I'm happy.

[havalotta]

I'm happy too.....

[Kildale]

Originally Posted by NEWisc

But we've got the Jewels of the Sky (Dragonflies and Damselflies) Photo Contest starting in July, so those perches have got to work!

Looking forward to that one. I don't have to much trouble photographing them. If they leave a resting place when you get there, just wait, they usually come back to the same one.

[jpdenk]

That site is run by a guy in the west 'burbs of Chicago, so the site is of particular value to those of us around NE Illinois. He does have some nice shots. I used to have some of my mushroom photos on his site, but I don't see them there any more.

Regarding camera costs vs. price, you might be surprised at the image quality that relatively inexpensive cameras can give. The person behind the camera is usually more important than the camera. I see lots of bad photos taken by people who throw thousands of dollars at their hobby, buying the latest and greatest bit of kit as soon as it hits the market, but they know virtually nothing about photography, so it's essentially wasted money.

It's more fruitful, photographically, to learn how to use the camera that you have instead of buying every new camera and/or lens as soon as it hits the street.

That's my old grouchy guy 2 cents worth for today.

Edited: I downloaded the first 2 photos on the page that Equilibrium linked to, and I checked the EXIF data embedded in them. The first photo was taken with a Canon Digital Rebel 450D/XSi, and the second was taken with a Kodak DC4800 compact camera, so they are not products of expensive "pro" cameras.

John