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Dragon Fly On Backstop
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Dragon Fly On Backstop

by Tom Mihalek

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted March 25, 201054 views3 comments
I photographed this dragon fly - no idea of the exact name - during a Philadelphia Phillies game July 3, 2009. While covering the game action for Associated Press, I watched it circle, then land in the netting of the backstop which is designed to prevent a baseball from passing thru and injuring a spectator...this should give you an idea of the size of the net's weave and the size of the insect.

The dragon fly was maybe five feet away from my seat in the photographer's box. I quickly made the photo with my Canon 1D MkIIn, 200mm f/2.8, zoomed out to 200, ISO500, f2/8 @ 1/1000 - the setting I use for my cameras to capture game action.

I don't like insects much, but dragon flies are the exception - beautiful creatures that have existed for millions of years, a reminder of pre-historic Earth.

Comments

3 comments
Comment posted by Charles Younger on March 25, 2010 at 3:28 PM
Pretty good shot. Only thing, this is a damselfly not a dragonfly. Smaller than a dragonfly. It looks like an eastern forktail (Ischnura verticalis).

Registered on January 15, 2010, 151 Posts, 269 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on March 25, 2010 at 8:27 PM
Tom:
Nice damselfly. They like to be near water. The DF is slightly soft probably due to wind/subject motion. Did u use a tripod? Just out of interest - do u take your action shot through the netting and if so do u use AF or manual focus?
Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments
Comment posted by Tom Mihalek on March 26, 2010 at 9:23 PM
Thank you for your comments, especially the correct name; damselfly. javascript:%20x() The depth of field is so slim since I was very close to the subject...if my memory is correct, I was at the minimum close-focus of the lens and at f/2.8. The wind was calm and the net not moving, but again DF was very thin. This was shot hand held under artificial light. For baseball action everything is shot auto focus, there is no netting in front of the photographers' box which is about 18 feet from the batter. Potentially very dangerous as there is less than one second to duck from a foul tipped ball coming at you.
Registered on March 18, 2010, 15 Posts, 10 Comments