2017 Damsel.

[Dale.]

I finally managed to get out and do some 'proper' photography last night. I'd planned a trip overnight on Friday/Saturday ooop norf to get some early morning light. There is a specific reflection that I want but the winds were too high, even though they were only 8mph. You really need 5mph or less for still water.

So, that trip was called off as I didn't fancy burning through 40 quid of fuel for nothing and my thoughts switched to Sunday night and hopefully a sunset at the coast.

Anyway, it looked a bit dull and grey out towards the coast last night so I put my macro lens onto my 7D and headed off in search of bugs. My 100L hasn't been on my camera for a while now, it was almost a forgotten lens.

After 2 disappointments over cancelled trips, I finally got my way and was rewarded with loads of damselflies, I've never seen so many in one spot. They were very active to start but as it cooled down they started slowing down, one or two even walking off their perch and onto my fingers, which I tried to get pictures of but that's not easy. The light was nice and soft too with the light cloud cover.

So far, this one is my favourite but I'm going over the others, so watch this space. I didn't mash the background quite as much as I'd have liked but I'll take it as is.





2017 Damsel. by Dale, on Flickr

 

[Kodiak Qc]

•


Cool take and impeccable rendition, Dale!

 

[Dale.]

Ta muchly Daniel.

 

[Graham]

Stunning shot and lovely colours.
No Exif showing on your flickr page so unable to read the things I wanted.

 

[Dale.]

Thanks Graham.

exif as follows,

7D,
100L,
f6.3,
1/160sec,
iso 320,
evalutive metering,
w/b cloudy,

hope that helps.

 

[coopers]

Very nicely taken love the light from the right and the background is perfect.
What's not to like.
Clive.

 

[Fuji Dave]

A very nice shot indeed, I`d be happy with that.

 

[ChrisA]

Very nice - be very happy with that.

 

[alfbranch]

Very nice shot

 

[Bobsyeruncle]

Great shot.

 

[GardenersHelper]

Very nice Dale. Presumably it was natural light? Was it hand-held? (I'm looking at the 1/160 sec and wondering)

 

[Emja]

That's stunning Dale!

 

[Dale.]

Very nicely taken love the light from the right and the background is perfect.
What's not to like.
Clive.

Thanks Clive. I'd have liked to have mashed the background just a little more but I'll take it as is.

A very nice shot indeed, I`d be happy with that.

Thanks Dave.

Very nice - be very happy with that.

Cheers Chris.

Very nice shot

Cheeers Alfie.

Great shot.

Thank you Bob.

Very nice Dale. Presumably it was natural light? Was it hand-held? (I'm looking at the 1/160 sec and wondering)

Thank you. Yes, it was natural light and with a monopod but IS switched on too. My monopod is quite flimsy, it's ok with my Fuji gear but witha gripped 7D, it's just enough to make a difference. I composed in liveview, then zoomed in 10x to nail the focus in MF. Even then, one little movement can ruin the shot as elements of it won't be sharp. Add a pinch of luck too. I don't like pushing the iso on my 7D as it's a noisy beast at the best of times. I'll use my tripod next time, they rarely sit still long enough to set up with a tripod but this one was slowing down as the air cooled.

That's stunning Dale!

Thanks Emja.


Edit:- it's a tad sharper on flickr, so worth the click over there.

 

[GardenersHelper]

Yes, it was natural light and with a monopod but IS switched on too.

Ah, that makes sense. That is a technique I used to use a lot (tripod, but hands-on, sometimes only two or one leg on the ground, and IS on).

My monopod is quite flimsy, it's ok with my Fuji gear but witha gripped 7D, it's just enough to make a difference.

I found the technique made a lot of difference to the shutter speeds I could use. I would need to go and look at some old photos to be sure about the numbers, but I think I sometimes went down to the 1/10 sec or so range for flowers, and often not a huge amount faster.

I composed in liveview, then zoomed in 10x to nail the focus in MF. Even then, one little movement can ruin the shot as elements of it won't be sharp.

My 70D was my "flower camera" for a couple of years, and I also used it for natural light shots of larger invertebrates like damselflies, butterflies etc. I used live view autofocusing most of the time, but I suspect that is better with the 70D than the 7D.

Add a pinch of luck too. I don't like pushing the iso on my 7D as it's a noisy beast at the best of times.

I've never used a 7D, but surely it will go to ISO 800 ok? That was more or less my "base ISO" with the 70D.

I'll use my tripod next time, they rarely sit still long enough to set up with a tripod but this one was slowing down as the air cooled.

Would that be hands-off, remote release? I always found that difficult to pull off with invertebrates during the day because of the setup time. About the only time it really worked for me was very early morning sessions before the insects had warmed up enough to move and before the breeze started. (Haven't done one of those sessions for two or more years.)

 

[Dale.]

Thank you Nick.

My 7D is really noisy and grainy, with banding too, even at 100 iso at times. You really have to nail the exposure, exposing to the right by over a stop at times, which then of course will blow any whites. It's a trade off and I prefer to underexpose (by 7D standards) slightly to control the whites but then you pay the price noise wise. 7Ds have a bad reputation for being noisy and some copies are better than others but mine can be awful.. I'm saving to go full frame, which I'm hoping will allow me higher iso settings and higher shutter speeds. It's been a love/hate relationship with my 7D, mostly hate and as I do some shooting too, it may be used for target practice.

When I use my tripod for this, I use it much like a monopod but it is far more sturdy, even when folded. When the bugs slow down, you can sometimes get enough time to set up properly and compose in liveview, then zoom in to nail the focus and apply a sprinkling of good luck again too. I don't use shutter realease at all but now you mention, I can see the possible merits of it.

Just to get this one image, many more were binned for out of focus bits.

 

[GardenersHelper]

Thank you Nick.

My 7D is really noisy and grainy, with banding too, even at 100 iso at times.

Blimey. That is terrible. I don't even get that with my bridge camera at ISO 100 (unless I pull up shadows a looooong way, and even then I don't get banding).

You really have to nail the exposure, exposing to the right by over a stop at times, which then of course will blow any whites.

Ouch!

It's a trade off and I prefer to underexpose (by 7D standards) slightly to control the whites but then you pay the price noise wise. 7Ds have a bad reputation for being noisy and some copies are better than others but mine can be awful.. I'm saving to go full frame, which I'm hoping will allow me higher iso settings and higher shutter speeds.

Full fame is (more than) fine of course, but you don't need it to use higher ISO. I use ISO 800 comfortably with both APS-C and the slightly smaller sensor micro four thirds.

It's been a love/hate relationship with my 7D, mostly hate and as I do some shooting too, it may be used for target practice.

From your description of it, I can understand that!

When I use my tripod for this, I use it much like a monopod but it is far more sturdy, even when folded. When the bugs slow down, you can sometimes get enough time to set up properly and compose in liveview, then zoom in to nail the focus and apply a sprinkling of good luck again too.

Again, this is not a recommendation, but with both bridge and micro four thirds I can place the focus where I want on subjects that are moving around (not too fast) without having to zoom in. I know autofocus has a bad rap for close-up/macro, but I use it almost all the time. It does depend on the camera though. Autofocus for live view (which I use almost all the time, with an articulated LCD) isn't nearly as good with the 70D as with my bridge and MFT cameras. It also depends on the optics setup. In my experience autofocus (whether live view or phase detect) with a macro lens rapidly becomes less and then not at all useful as magnification gets anywhere near 1:1 (let along beyond 1:1).

I don't use shutter realease at all but now you mention, I can see the possible merits of it.

Only when time isn't an issue. Which for me at least is hardly ever.

Just to get this one image, many more were binned for out of focus bits.

For close-up/macro that comes with the territory I think, whatever equipment you use. I happened to do a count for a session a couple of days ago; 34 out of 648 were used, a failure rate of around 95% (well, failure plus ok but unused because too similar to another one that worked out ok - but by far the majority plain failures).

 

[Dale.]

I also have a Fuji X-T10 and my starting point with that is iso 800 and I see no noise with that camera at that setting. I happily use that camera well above 1600 iso at times, it's much cleaner and a far better sensor in my opinion than the one on my 7D. To be fair to the 7D though, there are ways of using it that can minimise the noise problems but it's still apparent.

I'm waiting on the 6dMkii, as I have a lot of L glass. Hopefully, that camera will be better with it's noise handlling.

 

[GardenersHelper]

I also have a Fuji X-T10 and my starting point with that is iso 800 and I see no noise with that camera at that setting. I happily use that camera well above 1600 iso at times, it's much cleaner and a far better sensor in my opinion than the one on my 7D. To be fair to the 7D though, there are ways of using it that can minimise the noise problems but it's still apparent.

I'm waiting on the 6dMkii, as I have a lot of L glass.

Nice.

Hopefully, that camera will be better with it's noise handlling.

I'm sure it will be. Much better.

 

[Dale.]

If it ever comes.