I’m having trouble trying to catch an image of the damselflies down at Shoal Creek. There’s a 2ft drop there and overnight the mist covers everything. I want to catch them at first light, covered in dew, and all the highlights that come along with it but the water willows they rest on are constantly moving and I seem unable to balance the competing requirements of an adequate depth of field and a shutter speed fast enough to freeze movement. Waiting until the sun is higher doesn’t seem to cut it as by then the dew is gone and so are the damselflies. I thought using a flash would freeze movement but there always seems to be a ghost image where the shutter stays open past the flash pulse.
After 2 summers of this the attached image is the only one I like. I’m using a tripod set up in the stream, Canon Digital Rebel with a Sigma 70-300mm Super II Macro lens. I’ve set up a remote cord for my flash and, moving slowly, can handhold it at any angle around the damselfly. The lens is in macro mode with the subject usually 4-12 inches out from the minimum focus point. At that distance I need F18 before I feel I’ve got an adequate depth of field, dropping shutter speed to around ¼ second.
Is there some other technique I can try, like misting a few victims until there’s more light, or am I asking more than the technology can deliver?
BTW I prefer looking at the image at a larger size than the forum allows. Go here http://i.pbase.com/o4/23/479323/1/65254347.WPyr8tPm.CRW_9637C.jpg and select original size to see what I mean
To stabilize the willow branch, have you tried using another tripod with a Plamp attached to it? If the tree and other branches continue to shake the branch you are working with, maybe try snipping the target branch and taking it to a more windfree setup and attaching it to a tripod and Plamp already setup. Hopefully, a dew laden dragonfly would not be alarmed if your movements were slow and careful. It was already being tossed around by the wind generated from the falls. A snip off the willow tree would certainly not do it harm.
Thanks, Don, I'll give a variation on the Plamp idea a try. I should be able to insert a rod down through the foliage to stabilize it. As far as cutting a branch off an moving it, I don't think they will hold still for that. Even laden with dew they can still be spooked, and it's not the movement that does it, it's the sight of me looming over them.
Bruce, another thought, as the morning temps begin to get cooler, say early Oct., you may find these damselflies a little easier to approach. Are you photographing at Grand Falls? That is a neat place! Too bad there is a dam just upstream; it makes it more difficult composition wise. I have been tempted to come in from the opposite site but there are "No Trespassing" signs so I haven't pursued that but a different perspective would be neat.
Don, the variety of Damselfly I;m after disappears after mid-september so I've just got a few more weeks to catch these guys. I got a decent picture last Saturday but I'm hoping to catch a foggy dewey morning because they will be totally covered. I'm shooting at the Reddings Mill area which is about a mile upstream from Grand Falls, at I44 exit 6 go South about 3/4 mile and you're there. I have a kayak I use to paddle up to the drop, then I get out and wade. BTW you can get down to the other side of Grand Falls from the park up on the hill but you're still above the dam.
Discussion
4 repliesAfter 2 summers of this the attached image is the only one I like. I’m using a tripod set up in the stream, Canon Digital Rebel with a Sigma 70-300mm Super II Macro lens. I’ve set up a remote cord for my flash and, moving slowly, can handhold it at any angle around the damselfly. The lens is in macro mode with the subject usually 4-12 inches out from the minimum focus point. At that distance I need F18 before I feel I’ve got an adequate depth of field, dropping shutter speed to around ¼ second.
Is there some other technique I can try, like misting a few victims until there’s more light, or am I asking more than the technology can deliver?
BTW I prefer looking at the image at a larger size than the forum allows. Go here http://i.pbase.com/o4/23/479323/1/65254347.WPyr8tPm.CRW_9637C.jpg and select original size to see what I mean
Thanks, Bruce
To stabilize the willow branch, have you tried using another tripod with a Plamp attached to it? If the tree and other branches continue to shake the branch you are working with, maybe try snipping the target branch and taking it to a more windfree setup and attaching it to a tripod and Plamp already setup. Hopefully, a dew laden dragonfly would not be alarmed if your movements were slow and careful. It was already being tossed around by the wind generated from the falls. A snip off the willow tree would certainly not do it harm.
Just a thought.
Best,
Don
Best,
Don