Botanic Gardens 3rd March 2002

[willyfoo]

 

[willyfoo]

 

[Wai]

can post your settings too??

so that i can learn from you

 

[willyfoo]

All my pics posted has it's EXIF info in the file itself... just save the file onto your computer.. I'll try to post the EXIF info together with the shots later...

 

[Tweek]

great stuffs, excellent shots.

Out of the curiosity to learn, wanna ask, did you use fill-flash for this?

 

[megaweb]

very nice shots .. esp this one

 

[mpenza]

wow, nice composition and colors! I especially like the red berries.

 

[Bluestrike]

Finally... saw your shots!

some of them a bit over-ex => the two mating one!
or is it my screen to bright!?

 

[makan007]

Excellent work. Izzit difficult to capture dragonfly?

 

[willyfoo]

Originally posted by Tweek
great stuffs, excellent shots.

Out of the curiosity to learn, wanna ask, did you use fill-flash for this?

Yes... I used fill flash... using my flash bounce version 3...

 

[willyfoo]

Originally posted by Bluestrike
Finally... saw your shots!

some of them a bit over-ex => the two mating one!
or is it my screen to bright!?

Yes.. it's over exposed...

 

[willyfoo]

Originally posted by makan007
Excellent work. Izzit difficult to capture dragonfly?

This is only my 2nd attempt at dragonflies/damselflies..
1st time was tragic... not a single presentable shot.. then again.. I went too late and there wasn't enough light.

This time is better, and I realise that it was so much easier to take with my flash bounce. I also realised that most of my shots without the tripod came out blur... next time I'm taking this again... i'm definitely going to be using a tripod.. my grip action tripod head helps in getting a quick lock on the subject.

There are a few things I learnt about taking dragonflies...
1 - Use a small aperature (Large F number) to keep the whole dragonfly in focus.
2 - Try to take perpendicular to the dragonfly to make it easier to get the whole dragonfly in focus.
3 - Dragonflies are nicer (they spread their wings out) in the early morning and late afternoon when the air is cool.
4 - You can 'command' the dragonfly to reposition if the current position doesn't suit your taste ... I just learnt this today from Megaweb, the insect king that you can do the magic wave and the dragonfly will fly off and come back to the same spot, change direction a little and spread their wings out nicer for you... I didn't master the magic wave yet...

If you want to take good insect shots... just follow Megaweb on one of his outings to BG...

 

[boochap]

are these taken from digital camera?
sorry, but they look a bit weird to me.

 

[megaweb]

group shot taken by Willy using his 707

 

[mpenza]

Originally posted by willyfoo


Yes... I used fill flash... using my flash bounce version 3...

nicely exposed!

 

[isomers007]

clear pix and gr8 compositioning there :thumbsup:

 

[zhapchit]

Originally posted by willyfoo


This is only my 2nd attempt at dragonflies/damselflies..
1st time was tragic... not a single presentable shot.. then again.. I went too late and there wasn't enough light.

This time is better, and I realise that it was so much easier to take with my flash bounce. I also realised that most of my shots without the tripod came out blur... next time I'm taking this again... i'm definitely going to be using a tripod.. my grip action tripod head helps in getting a quick lock on the subject.

There are a few things I learnt about taking dragonflies...
1 - Use a small aperature (Large F number) to keep the whole dragonfly in focus.
2 - Try to take perpendicular to the dragonfly to make it easier to get the whole dragonfly in focus.
3 - Dragonflies are nicer (they spread their wings out) in the early morning and late afternoon when the air is cool.
4 - You can 'command' the dragonfly to reposition if the current position doesn't suit your taste ... I just learnt this today from Megaweb, the insect king that you can do the magic wave and the dragonfly will fly off and come back to the same spot, change direction a little and spread their wings out nicer for you... I didn't master the magic wave yet...

If you want to take good insect shots... just follow Megaweb on one of his outings to BG...

megaweb is a trained jedi, that's why his wave works

great pics

 

[Falcon]

Where did u guys go to in Botanical gardens to take those dragonflies shots? I can't seem to find any dragonflies in recent weeks. At least those that I saw were hyperactive.

 

[makan007]

Originally posted by willyfoo


This is only my 2nd attempt at dragonflies/damselflies..
1st time was tragic... not a single presentable shot.. then again.. I went too late and there wasn't enough light.

This time is better, and I realise that it was so much easier to take with my flash bounce. I also realised that most of my shots without the tripod came out blur... next time I'm taking this again... i'm definitely going to be using a tripod.. my grip action tripod head helps in getting a quick lock on the subject.

There are a few things I learnt about taking dragonflies...
1 - Use a small aperature (Large F number) to keep the whole dragonfly in focus.
2 - Try to take perpendicular to the dragonfly to make it easier to get the whole dragonfly in focus.
3 - Dragonflies are nicer (they spread their wings out) in the early morning and late afternoon when the air is cool.
4 - You can 'command' the dragonfly to reposition if the current position doesn't suit your taste ... I just learnt this today from Megaweb, the insect king that you can do the magic wave and the dragonfly will fly off and come back to the same spot, change direction a little and spread their wings out nicer for you... I didn't master the magic wave yet...

If you want to take good insect shots... just follow Megaweb on one of his outings to BG...

Thanks for sharing your experience and tips.

 

[U-KnOwHo]

Note on dragonflies ... those in singapore, both at Botanical Gardens and Sugei Buloh are pretty good posers. But I had a hard time taking dragonflies in Pulau Pangkor (where I was over the weekend) ... Was chasing some golden ones for more than 1 hour and only manage to take a few and they are not that great. Stand further away and stretch your arms towards them, coming in from below their eye level, seems to work better for me.

Anyway, nice pics willy!!! Love the "big" dragonfly and the red berries. But they are not your best. Your birds pics are still the best!!!