Hunting for Dragons in the Backyard

You don’t always have to travel far to find adventure.  As spring is upon us and summer approaches, now is the perfect time to begin to hone your adventure photography skills or find something new in your own backyard.  Two of my favorite things to photograph using my macro lens are dragonflies and flowers.  Dragonflies, for me, seem to be generally approachable if you take your time and flowers can create a soft, buttery background as you zoom in closer.   As I venture out each spring and summer, there typically only one thing I carry with me  - my Nikon AF-D 105mm Micro lens.  While this thing is a tank and a little loud, the large 2.8 aperture and 1:1 magnification ratio allow me to get close and fast with my shutter speeds.

Practice by moving my DSLR setting to A (aperture) priority, take a shot, adjust the aperture, take another shot, adjust the aperture, take another shot…you get the picture.  The reason why I do this to to continually remind myself of the various creative options that are available with a DLSR as you ‘play’ with what is available to you.   When  you check your pictures out afterwards and find those are most appealing, take time to look at the focal length, aperture, ISO, and shutter speeds.  Having a visual cue (your picture) and the metadata from the picture will help reinforce how these settings work with one another and get you closer to recreating a technique when you are far away from home on your next adventure.

Pay attention to the location of the sun as you adjust your aperture.  Keeping the sun at your back is generally my preferred method for macro photography, adjusting your position relative to the subject and the sun can also result in new creative options.

Get low and recreate the perspectives that are seen by the subjects you are photographing.  I was amazed the first time I took a picture of a dragon fly from down low – they are actually smiling!   Your neighbors may think you are nuts, but lie on the ground and see a whole new world – on your back, on your stomach.

Have fun and take the time you want.  You don’t need to turn it into a expedition style adventure.  Just grab your camera and lens and walk around for 15 to 30 mins.  The closer you look at plants and bugs, the more you will be amazed.

Tags: dragonfly, dslr, flower, insect, macro, Photography

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 10th, 2009 at 10:24 AM and is filed under Minnesota, Photography, United States. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.