Dragonfly Photography Tips
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From that perspective, dragonfly photography tips start with the suggestion of taking a camera to a water location on a sunny spring, summer or fall day and snapping a picture of the first sighted dragonfly.
A more advanced set of dragonfly photography tips would include basic photography practices such as selecting the macro setting on the camera and making sure the sun is at your back and on the dragonfly when it comes time to click the shutter. Photographing dragonflies in a good light setting highlights their colorful bodies.
Most dragonfly enthusiasts eventually get to the point of realizing that some dragonflies, especially the darners, do not follow the typical dragonfly perching mode.
Some dragonfly photographers solve that problem by using a net to capture and photograph the dragonfly in a posed position. Capturing the dragonfly in flight represents another potentially successful photographic strategy.
The top two pictures show a darner in flight. The first was taken with the camera set to shutter speed priority of perhaps 800 and the flash open.
From this technical starting point, getting the picture is a matter of following the dragonfly with the lens and waiting for an appropriate moment when the focus locks on the dragonfly. Usually the combination of patience, flash and shutter speed are sufficient to capture a clear shot of the dragonfly in flight.
The second picture shows a darner in flight taken with the shutter speed set on aperture priority, which allows more light, moving shutter speed priority to second priority.
Taken at a close range, the slower shutter speed means the results will highlight small movements in the dragonfly's body and wings.
Practicing these techniques by taking fifty or so different pictures should produce at least one or two acceptable dragonfly in flight photos.
© 2009. Patricia A. Michaels