Strong mosquito killer, I like that
This black-tailed skimmer actually flew up after the second photo and picked a mosquito off my arm. I like that.
You can tell by the focal length used for photos how close they let you get if you don't startle them.
Olympus XZ-1, 28mm, ISO100, f5.6, 1/100
Olympus XZ-1, 28mm, ISO100, f5.6, 1/100
We should train them to hunt mosquitos)
they feast on mosquitos. I once lived deep in the Canadian wilderness. The bugs were insane. Unending barrage of biters. Then about an hour before dusk the dragon flies would arrive. Like an army, a battalion worth, dozens upon dozens sent to save us from the evil of itchiness. It was really cool watching come in close to your catch mosiquito. I swear one came with 2 inches my my nose. hovered for a flash second, caught a mosquito winked at me and took off. was pretty cool.
That is what I am talking about. They can hel a lot! ;-)
I'm actually more surprised by the low aperture - macro photographers usually shoot at f/16 and above. What's the crop factor of the sensor?
Nice shots, again :D I get the feeling these dragonflies (is it the same as a skimmer?) are rather big, aren't they?
These are wide-angle shots (!) made with a relatively small-sensor camera, so plenty of depth of field at f5.6.
This is one of the skimmers, and yes, black-tailed skimmers are big, even as skimmers go.
Haven't taken any wide angle macro shots, maybe thats why I'm so surprised - you must be really close. No cropping?
First one almost no cropping, second one a bit more, see originals:
And yes, I was real close, about 5cm (2") away.
Wow, that's close! Keep up the excellent work! :)