AlanHill -dragonfly pics-look please

[CaroL]

I saw on my other thread that you have experience taking pics of these amazing creatures...so I thought maybe you could have a look at the others I took that day and give me your opinion and advice.
Thanks in advance for your time :)

1 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/whispering_rain/apf/dragons/c649fea1.jpg


2 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/whispering_rain/apf/dragons/c0184a37.jpg

3 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/whispering_rain/apf/dragons/d310531f.jpg


4 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/whispering_rain/apf/dragons/c7efab7a.jpg


5 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/whispering_rain/apf/dragons/6282cac5.jpg


6 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/whispering_rain/apf/dragons/459b51c4.jpg


7 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/whispering_rain/apf/dragons/b36cbb97.jpg


8 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/whispering_rain/apf/dragons/07bf47af.jpg


9 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/whispering_rain/apf/dragons/7c6cce83.jpg


10 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/whispering_rain/apf/dragons/8c1b5b57.jpg


11 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/whispering_rain/apf/dragons/66eb7be6.jpg


12 http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/whispering_rain/apf/dragons/efdf41c1.jpg



and a spider and katydid from the same day


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/whispering_rain/apf/dragons/454ed1a7.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v143/whispering_rain/apf/dragons/9e260e7e.jpg

[paradise]

Carol, I think for a P&S camera, those are EXCELLENT. I see some noise on most of them in the background, but the quality is superb for a P&S. You are definitely using it well.

[hir0]

technically, i think the biggest problem you are having is overexposure.

[CaroL]

tyvm Paradise :)


hiro-
I don't know what to do to correct overexposure.What am I doing wrong? Is it something that I can correct with my cam?

[phishphorphun]

Frankly, except for the overexposure as Hir0 mentioned, these are outstanding. The photographer deserves a lot of credit here. The composition and sharpness is right-on. These shots should inspire more people who think they have to invest into DSLR to get good captures.

Carol, you are sharing some great stuff with us. Thank you.

[paradise]

hiro-
I don't know what to do to correct overexposure.What am I doing wrong? Is it something that I can correct with my cam?

Carol, I dont know your camera, but look at the manual, see if you can do manual mode, or exposure compensation adjustment. In manual, aperature mode, or shutter priority modes, you are setting the exposure yourself by selecting those values. In auto mode, upping or lowering exposure compensation lets you finetune your shot after taking a test shot.

[paradise]

After looking at the DPreview of the camera, yeah, it has this:
Exposure compensation -2 EV to +2 EV in 1/3 EV steps
Aperture priority Yes
Shutter priority Yes

Link to the review:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Olympus/oly_c765uz.asp

[CaroL]

I found this site that has instructions on using my cam

http://olympusdigitalschool.com/cameras/c-series/c-765_ultra_zoom/index.html

I'll have to read it a few dozen times before it sinks in...lol...
thanks for all the replies :) Hope ya'll don't get tired of my endless questions and posting pics! lol
I have a few more subjects that I really love,(flowers and bugs) and have a lot of pics and q's about them! lol I think I'll wait a bit to post more pics tho...eeps

[alanhill]

OK. I think you probably need something like -1/2 or -2/3 EV to get better photos - you can do more with a slightly underexposed photo than with a slightly overexposed one.

I will comment on the photos one by one, because they deserve it and because they are good examples of the range of work possible with a dragonfly (so they may interest some other members here).
You were absolutely right to take a range of different photos (i guess more than you have shown here) to try to show the insect properly. I should say that you were lucky to have a fairly co-operative subject. The behaviour varies from species to species - some are so restless that they are dreadfully difficult to photograph. This species looks similar to one of our Orthetrum species, which are called skimmers in the UK, but I don't think it is exactly the same.

Number 1 is pretty good: the background is a little distracting, but the focus and colour reproduction look good to me. From this angle it is difficult to get the end of the abdomen in focus, but the wings, head, thorax and legs are shown well.

Number 2 is good. I like the angle, the background is OK and everything is present & correct. The only fault is that the point of focus is a little too far from the camera: this means that the head, the abdomen, the legs and the left hand wings are nicely in focus, but the stripes on the side of the thorax (below the wings) and the right hand wings are not quite there. As I said about your previous post, good dragonfly shots have good depth of field. It is worth remembering that only 1/3 of the area which appears sharp is closer to the camera than the point of focus, the remaining 2/3 is behind the point of focus. This picture would have been improved if you could have focused precisely on the points where the right hand wings join the thorax - this would have brought most of the right hand wings into focus, without losing too much of the left hand wings - if any part of the insect is out of focus it should be the furthest wing tip.

Number 3 is much better. The depth of field includes most of both wings. I would use the clone tool in Photoshop to tone down the pink area in the background.

Number 4 is very good. The insect is almost perfect (only the end of the abdomen is not quite sharp). The background is not so clever, but it's not too obtrusive. Perhaps the crop is a little too tight at the top right.

Number 5 isn't quite as good. The point of focus is a millimetre or two further back, so the end of the abdomen is in focus, but the eye is not quite right. This is a pity because I think the angle of the shot is slightly better than the previous one.

Number 6 is also very good. I love these head-on views, they show how alien dragonflies are. The head thorax and wings are excellent and I love the angles that the wings make.

Number 7 is excellent and my favourite of them all. The focus is spot-on; only the far wing-tips are not quite sharp and I don't mind that at all. The background is not distracting. The only tiny criticism is that the crop is a little too tight.

Number 8 is like the shot you posted before. The right hand wings aren't sharp enough and the backround is more obtrusive. The same comments apply to number 9.

Number 10 has a nice background, but the abdomen and the central part of the lower leaf are overexposed. I think the insect is rather too far to the right of the frame.

Number 11 is also overexposed. I think that if I were taking these shots I would move a little to the left (if I could) to shoot from the side of the dragonfly so that I could be sure that the whole body would be in focus from head to tail.

Number 12 is not as good as number 6. The backgound is fussy and the abdomen is overexposed.

The final two are also good; but I think the spider and the bush cricket would both have benefitted from lower viewpoints to show more of the cephalothorax of the spider and to avoid the horizontal red stalk across the cricket.

I hope this helps.

Alan

[CaroL]

wow...Thank you so so much for taking so much time with this post! I can't tell you how much it's appreciated! :) I've got to read thru it a few more times (blonde yanno..lol)
Your advice and tips are just wonderful,thank you thank you :)

btw
this dragonfly was insane...flitting all over the place.I would guess I spent over 2 hrs and took approx 20-30 pics of it.It was a brilliant sunny day and I didn't expect any of them to turn out well.The ones I trashed were just blurs or complete misses as he flew away again.

Again,thank you !

[alanhill]

this dragonfly was insane...flitting all over the place.I would guess I spent over 2 hrs and took approx 20-30 pics of it.It was a brilliant sunny day and I didn't expect any of them to turn out well.The ones I trashed were just blurs or complete misses as he flew away again.

Been there . . . done that :-)

Alan

[Willy wombat]

Mmm me too. Damn fast insects.

I really enjoyed your pictures Carol. It has been said allready, but they are excellent for a P&S cam.

[CaroL]

tyvvm Willy :)
One day with the right cam,and a lot lot lot more work,hopefully I'll be as accomplished as you all :D