Meet Dragonflies and Damselflies

Hi friends!

It’s been a pretty long while since I’m shooting insect photos. So far I’ve discovered several species through my macro lens: bees, wasps, beetles, ants, butterflies etc. I usually encounter many of these when going outdoors on a warm spring or summer day. However I occasionally meet some more “special” types and when I see them one of the possible words that comes into my thoughts is: “jackpot”! Today is a great day!

One of these interesting types is the dragonfly or sometimes its smaller (let’s say thinner) “cousin”, the damselfly. I find both of them so fascinating that I think they deserve a fully dedicated post. And this is what this article is about.

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Insects … reloaded!

Hi folks!

After sharing some findings regarding shooting arachnids in this article I would say it’s time for another post about insects. After all, both subjects are proudly representing the beauty of macro photography. Both can be cute, interesting, unusual and scary in the same time. Well, honestly speaking I find arachnids scarier but this is just my personal taste.

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Photography and Overcoming Phobias

Everyone has his/her own fears.  Like the song says “I’m only human after all”. But some of us even have real phobias like fear of the dark, phobias of large areas (agoraphobia), small areas (claustrophobia), mice, rats, other small animals and last but not least … insects and arachnids!

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Insects (10)

Hi folks!

Today I’ll show you the last insect pictures taken this year. They were shot this month and I consider myself lucky that the weather was still excellent, as a few days later it got rainy and as cold as in winter. In fact it’s the first time I’m taking insect photos in October, which came to me as a nice surprise.

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Insects (9)

As mentioned in https://callofnatureblog.wordpress.com/2015/06/21/insects-7/, the “sweetest” period for shooting insects is in May. Unfortunately this year I missed this occasion due to time constraints.

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Insects (8)

Let me show you the latest insect pictures taken this summer. Indeed, it was the last summer week and the weather was wonderful. So I thought: well, this might be the last chance to “capture” some more insects this year. Let’s get to work then!

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Insects (7)

In a previous post I mentioned that the time period which is suitable for insect photography starts approximately in March and ends in September. However, what I didn’t point out is that the “sweet spot” for shooting these tiny creatures is May.

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Insects (5)

There are 2 important “ingredients” for getting good insect photos.

First one is patience. When you’re in an area where insects are likely to be found (say near a forest), you should always do a thorough research of the surroundings by slowly walking along flowers and trees and paying attention to potential “targets”. Better said you should effectively try to sweep the area for subjects. Sometimes you even need to go in circles, but it’s definitely worth doing it!

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Insects (4)

Motto: “if you want to take stunning pictures with insects you must get as close as possible. You need to get personal!”

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Insects (3)

The sad thing about insect photography is that you can only take photos with them in a certain time period, namely starting from March/April and ending in August/September. Comparing to this, landscape photography does not have this limitation as a certain landscape can be captured in any moment of the year and it still can be fascinating. Take for example this post: https://callofnatureblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/winter-in-alba-iulia-1/

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