Butterflysaurus rex wrote:Any recommendations? I'd also like to have a go at capturing some Dragonflies in flight.
Like the others who have commented, I was very impressed with your open-wing CY shot, especially as I had previously posted a very mediocre in-flight shot, merely to illustrate the upper wing pattern.
Jack is right that the reaction time of insects is amazing. Through the viewfinder, I saw my butterfly sat on a flower but, by the time the shutter fired, it was about a foot away! Notice that the proboscis is still unfurled and the abdomen tilted down, possibly to act as take-off flaps!
With the advent of relatively cheap, large storage cards and cameras, like your EOS 7D, with high speed continuous modes, I tend to use these as a default setting. It's surprising how, even with a static subject, one shot out of a burst of three is often just that little bit sharper than the rest. Of course, it means you have to spend time sorting through an awful lot of photos (and be ruthless in throwing away the 'seconds').
The same approach is essential for in-flight shots (dragonflies, birds, or whatever) There is no way of anticipating the wing movements and a high-speed sequence will include some shots with more pleasing wing arrangements than others. Even 8fps can seem frustratingly slow at times and easily misses the crux of the action, so a good sense of timing (plus luck) is still necessary. In the case of dragonflies,watch their movements carefully. They often have a favourite spot, where they will hover for several seconds at a time, so position yourself to take advantage of this behaviour and keep very still, as they are incredibly sensitive to movement.
A prime (i.e. non-zoom) lens is better for this type of work because it will have a wider aperture, so allowing a higher shutter speed, and should have very fast AF. Your macro should be fine in these respects, especially as longer focal lengths can make it difficult to keep the subject within the frame, though, of course these are essential for bird in-flight shots.
I would say that you have to shake off any inhibitions about not shooting until things are perfect! Yes, you will get lots of rubbish but, so long as you regard these as part of a learning curve, and work on how to recognise when good shots are likely, you should find your success rate slowly increases.
Of course, luck will always play a part in these shots but you can set yourself up to maximise the chances of success! Good luck
Mike
But it was nothing more than some really good luck, I pressed the shutter just as she was about to fly off. However I'm perfectly happy for everyone to forget that and think I'm really good at it
Personally, I would crop out the half-butterfly and just present the central subject, which stands as a very good photo on its own.