Aztec Dancer 2772
There are three problems in photographing a damselfly. First, since the ones I've gotten this past week love the boulders in the middle of a stream, the closest I could get without falling in was 12 feet. The female Aztec Damselfly is 39mm long. Actually, that's the second problem. The first is seeing them at 12 feet! That's a 1.75 inch insect on a boulder bigger than a bowling ball. The third problem occurred yesterday: it was very hot, and I had been been squinting through an EVF which isn't great. First, I had sweat dripping, and then ... FLOATERS bigger than a dragonfly. I readily admit that three of the shots you'll see in the next couple of days were a lot of guessing as to focus. Oh, the fourth problem - sorry 'bout that - was that the camera had a really issue in focusing, popping in and out of clarity.
I'm very happy with this new species. It's very difficult with damselflies in this part of the continent. Most males have some blue on the thorax, but the females can be gray, black, blue-grey... And then, there are three species where the females are almost identical. The female does not live up to the species name, "Vivid Dancer." If it weren't for the teeny tap shoes, I never would have known.
Two images tonight. The second was taken about a minute after this. I'll explain...
Aztec Dancer 2772
There are three problems in photographing a damselfly. First, since the ones I've gotten this past week love the boulders in the middle of a stream, the closest I could get without falling in was 12 feet. The female Aztec Damselfly is 39mm long. Actually, that's the second problem. The first is seeing them at 12 feet! That's a 1.75 inch insect on a boulder bigger than a bowling ball. The third problem occurred yesterday: it was very hot, and I had been been squinting through an EVF which isn't great. First, I had sweat dripping, and then ... FLOATERS bigger than a dragonfly. I readily admit that three of the shots you'll see in the next couple of days were a lot of guessing as to focus. Oh, the fourth problem - sorry 'bout that - was that the camera had a really issue in focusing, popping in and out of clarity.
I'm very happy with this new species. It's very difficult with damselflies in this part of the continent. Most males have some blue on the thorax, but the females can be gray, black, blue-grey... And then, there are three species where the females are almost identical. The female does not live up to the species name, "Vivid Dancer." If it weren't for the teeny tap shoes, I never would have known.
Two images tonight. The second was taken about a minute after this. I'll explain...