Orthetrum coerulescens
Orthetrum coerulescens
Written by Saturday, 08 November 2008 11:04
"The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men. " Alice Walker
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The Predator strikes - Orthetrum coerulescens (Common name: Keeled Skimmer; Dutch: Beekoeverlibel) During the last year I started going out on Sundays for a photo session. I pack the camera with only one lens and a flash and leave home for 45 minutes or 100 shots, whichever comes first. This limits things a lot but has several important advantages. I have to select my subject very wisely, make decisions on how to get the best use of the limited equipment I have with me and examine my surrounding very carefully to locate good photo candidates. During one of those photo exercises I saw this libellula flying around me. I froze for a minute and the insect decided to land on a stone about 4 meters away. I took a picture of it but I knew I had to get closer. Instead of walking near it (my shadow and the noise would sound like “danger” to it), I laid on the ground and crawled. The insect did not move at all. I took the first couple of photos showing its face and stopped to examine them on the camera’s screen for a couple of seconds. When I looked back at the stone, the insect was not there. A second later, it was there with a fly on its mouth. I could not believe my luck. I was already in place, the camera was already set up for it and the insect decided to land at the same place. I took about 20 pictures as it was eating the fly. In the last photo the detail is fantastic (in my opinion). You can see the complex eyes of both insects along with the tiny moist suction pads (called pulvilli) under the fly’s legs; the fly uses these to “stick” to any surface. I had to play with apertures a bit. I desperately wanted depth of field but I also wanted maximum detail which was a contradiction in terms. The first asked for f/32 and the second for f/8. I decided to use f/16 and then f/11. The flash was on high speed synchronization mode so I could use any speed I wanted to. I tried a high speed for the first couple of photos (1/500) but when I realized that the libellula would not move, I lowered it to 1/250. Focus and settings were all manually set / performed. I could not use the aperture mode since the set speed of 1/60 sec would be too low. Ambient light was still strong and the libellula was eating the fly as I was taking pictures. Under these conditions the possibility of getting double images is very high. Instead, I preferred settings which would make sure that the flash would be the main light source for the scene and the speed would be high enough to freeze the movement of the mouth. At this high magnification the depth of field is so small and the detail so high and dense that any movement will result in a blurred picture. I regard this picture as one of the ten best pictures I have taken up to now.Photos by George J. Reclos Camera: Nikon D300 1. Shutter speed - aperture: 1/500 sec - f/11, Manual mode 2. Shutter speed - aperture: 1/500 sec - f/16, Manual mode 3. Shutter speed - aperture: 1/500 sec - f/16, Manual mode 4. Shutter speed - aperture: 1/250 sec - f/11, Manual mode 5. Shutter speed - aperture: 1/250 sec - f/11, Manual mode 6. Shutter speed - aperture: 1/250 sec - f/11, Manual mode |
These photographs are the property of MCH Portal and cannot be reproduced without the written permission of the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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