While on spring break, Sarah, our friend Christy,
and I decided to visit a Japanese garden. We happened across this blue
dasher dragonfly holding on in the afternoon breeze. I was surprised at how
close I was able to get to it. Either the breeze was too strong for flight
or it just didn't care about me. It just kept hanging onto the branch. I
admire that.
Technical Details: 1/160 sec at f/9.5 - 18-200mm lens at
200mm - cloudy white balance +3 - JPEG ISO 200
I broke my most cherished rule of nature photography when I made this
image...I wasn't using a tripod! As a result, I had to shoot at a lower
aperture than I would have preferred. Still, the depth of field was
adequate enough to keep the image sharp enough in the key areas. The
vibration reduction function on the camera lens helped, as at 200mm I was
hand holding the camera less than 20 inches from the dragonfly. In theory,
the VR ability of the lens would have allowed an even slower shutter speed,
but movement due to wind necessitated the higher value. I am looking
forward to the day when cameras can compensate for subject movement as well
as camera shake!
This
image is available as a higher-resolution wallpaper
here.
