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In-flight mating dragons
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In-flight mating dragons

by Gary Yeoh

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted November 17, 2010192 views10 comments
It is unusual to see dragonflies still mating in November probably due to unseason warm weather. Saw the male crimson dropwing (trithemis aurora) chasing the female over the pond in HK park. Unlike other dragonflies, the indigo dropwings make love in the air (the founding members of the mile high club :wink: ) I quickly dial the camera into shutter priority and set it to 1/1000 sec and crouch down just in time to fire off 4 shots.

d90 105mm F4 1/1000sec iso200 HH. Thanks for looking and C&C appreciated.

Comments

10 comments
Comment posted by Joel DeYoung on November 17, 2010 at 9:18 AM
Amazing catch Gary, Nicely composted with sharp detail in the eyes of the lead dragonfly.
A very interesting shot to say the least. :smile:
My only nit is that the color looks a bit off on my monitor. Almost looks purple.
Nicely done other than that. :smile:
Registered on July 12, 2009, 92 Posts, 1074 Comments
Comment posted by Barbara Graham on November 17, 2010 at 12:14 PM
Great quick thinking and quick action. To me the colors are beautiful, though I haven't looked up what they should be (if they should be different). :toast: :toast: :toast:
Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments
Comment posted by jamie pringle on November 17, 2010 at 12:57 PM
Wow, hard to even catch in the viewfinder Gary! Excellent action/behavior shot :toast:
Registered on August 10, 2005, 323 Posts, 1216 Comments
Comment posted by Monica Siri on November 17, 2010 at 3:11 PM
Outstanding, Gary. :toast:
Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments
Comment posted by Krunal Janani on November 17, 2010 at 11:56 PM
:eek: :eek: :eek: :toast: :toast: :toast:
Registered on September 16, 2010, 60 Posts, 1370 Comments
Comment posted by Ingrid Vekemans on November 18, 2010 at 1:04 AM
Brilliant capture, wel done! :toast:
Registered on August 2, 2010, 138 Posts, 780 Comments
Comment posted by Roger Leekam on November 18, 2010 at 8:20 AM
Getting one of these in flight is tough. Getting two is more than twice as difficult, and it's understandable that one is slightly out of focus. Amazing colors, and I assume that they are accurate as I don't know this species. Excellent shot!
Registered on May 28, 2009, 83 Posts, 646 Comments
Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on November 18, 2010 at 8:00 PM
Thanks everyone for your comments. I am lucky to be at the right place at the right time and have the right lens on at the time. I usually have the 300mm on when looking for dragonflies but I had the 105mm as I have just finished shotting Dianthus.

The color is authentic and similar to this one I posted awhile back. The blue reflection from the pond may make this looks slightly purplish. I have applied dodge on the thorax of the lead DF to lightening up the shadow but other than that it is pretty much as it is from the camera.
Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments
Comment posted by Albert Darmo on November 24, 2010 at 9:31 PM
Hi Gary :wavey: What a great action shot. that tells a story. The color and detail are great.... think what you could do as a sports photographer :biggrin: :eek:
Albert Darmo. CAnada
Registered on November 25, 2008, 1386 Posts, 11978 Comments
Comment posted by Howard Cheek on November 27, 2010 at 8:06 AM
Great inflight action Gary, the solid BG works well here.
The problem I have here at my pond is that more often than not, the mating couple is to near the grasses to get a "clean" shot like this.
Well done :toast:
Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments