Photographing Dragonflies and Damselflies/Close up and Macro Photography

[@Roseingrave]

Very interesting information as well as good tips. And I love your enthusiasm for your subject! Thanks.

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

@@Roseingrave Thanks very much Kim, pleased you enjoyed it. All the best Steve.

[@stephencrawford6082]

Love your enthusiasm for your subject and thanks for some really useful information.

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks very much Stephen, really glad you enjoyed it. All the best, Steve.

[@hkanderful]

Thank you for sharing those interesting facts about dragon and damselflies. I am so looking forward to this years season. This video is so much inspiration. All the best from Norway!

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks very much, really glad you enjoyed it. Yes I'm also looking forward to this Year's season. All the best, Steve.

[@karlburchill2704]

Another cracking video Steve I've been going to the same spot for 4 years running taking photos of dragonflies and just enjoying watching their behaviour they are absolutely fascinating creatures.

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks very much Karl, glad you enjoyed it. Yes you're right they are absolutely fascinating animals to watch. What great subjects they are for photograph as well. I shall also be back out there trying to get better images than last year. All the best, Steve.

[@karlburchill2704]

@Steve Hedges Photography Hi Steve Yes I'm currently in transition going from A 6 year old Sony A58 camera I'm jumping over to Olympus and have bought a Olympus 40-150mm f2.8 pro lens and when I finally sell all my Sony gear I'll buy the Olympus EM1 MK2 camera that's the plan anyway, Cheers Steve

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Hi Karl, good luck with the Olympus gear. I know quite a few people who have made a similar switch. Mainly for weight reasons. All the best, Steve.

[@Rudy60426]

Great video

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thank you very much.

[@SkylarkFields]

Very informative, Steve. Great video, thanks.

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks very much, very pleased you enjoyed it. I love the variety of insects I can photograph locally. Absolutely fantastic little creatures to watch.

[@peterviragphoto]

Nice tutorial Steve and heaps of useful info on the Odonata. Our summer just started here And we have heaps of ringtails and some massive drsgonflies at the local reserve too. You got some beautiful shots, I really liked those two images at 10:41 and the backlit frame at 13:19. Cheers

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Hi Peter, sorry I haven't replied earlier but your comment didn't show up in my notifications. Thanks very much glad you enjoyed my video and the images in it. I'm feeling slightly jealous of your summer weather as I sit here in the winter gloom. Have a good Christmas. All the best, Steve.

[@Walkinginthewoods]

Nice photos there Steve.

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks very much, glad you like them. All the best Steve.

[@bhalchandrakapatkar1710]

🙏👍👍👍👍no.1👍

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks very much.

[@lesleyb26]

Love to hear about the life's of these mini beasts. Brilliant photos as always Steve :-)

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks very much Lesley, I love photographing these small creatures. It's great that I can find so many different species close to home.

[@lesleyb26]

You are lucky that you get better weather and more species of animals than us northerners (:D) although we are seeing thing migrate a bit more. Keep up the wonderful work, it's a pleasure to watch :-)

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks Lesley so pleased you enjoy my vlogs. Yep the warm still conditions do help when we're looking for dragonflies. Even down south we only get a few days that are perfect. So it's a case of making the most of them. All the best Steve.

[@naturalreach4316]

Lovely video

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks you, much appreciated. All the best, Steve.

[@eddiek0507]

Good Video Steve, Some nice dragonfly and damselfly shots. I can watch these insects for hours, they are fascinating...😀👍

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks very much, yes they are beautiful insects to watch. I absolutely love photographing them throughout the summer.

[@keithhumphrey7529]

Great video Steve. Went out yesterday and managed to capture some images of an Azure damselfly. The light was good as there was plenty of cloud cover. No dragonflies though. I think they prefer the sun.

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks very much Keith glad you enjoyed it. Great time of year for this type of photography isn't it? The Azure damselfly is well worth a photograph. I've been out this afternoon photographing mainly butterflies got some decent shot of a few Marble Whites as well as a few other species of butterflies a couple of dragonflies. all the best,Steve.

[@glennhunt2375]

Share your enthusiasm for this type of photography Steve, over the last few years have got more and more into macro just find it fascinating. Really like the way you "throw yourself " into your videos gives it a real buzz. Good to see you back. 👍

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks very much Glenn, glad you enjoyed it. Yes macro photography is such an interesting area of photography. I love the fact that you can find the most amazing creatures close to home even in our back gardens.

[@ronallen94]

Really enjoyed this video. I spend a lot of time photographing dragonflies and damselflies with a 100-400mm telephoto lens. They are amazing insects, top class predators. Their flying skills are phenomenal. This year I’ve managed to find 4 new species for my list and those close to home. I intend to travel further afield to find more species. I love your enthusiasm in whatever photographic genre you’re working in. Keep up the good work.

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks very much Ron, really glad you enjoyed it. Yes what amazing creatures they are, a real joy to photograph. I've photographed a couple of new species this year so far and I've got a couple of local locations I haven't visited yet. Looking forward to seeing what I can find at them. All the best Steve.

[@NaturallyCuriousUK]

Watched and enjoyed this a week or so ago. Wasn't able to comment at the time 'cos I had to dash out and have only just remembered! Your videos are always an inspiration Steve, and always enjoyable. Don't worry about the frequency, or lack of. Good things come to those who wait! 👍😉👍

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thank you so much Graham. I really do appreciate your kind comments mate. Keep well, all the best Steve.

[@KGsPhotography]

Superb images as usual Steve. Well done mate 👍👏

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks very much Keith. I love macro photography on a still day. It's just s shame we don't often get the right conditions. Still it's great fun when we do. Cheers mate.

[@cynical1952]

Your enthusiasm always shines through on the subject Steve, which is always a bonus. Dragonflies and Damselfies are sometimes difficult to capture, but with a certain amount of fieldcraft, this can be achieved. Like you, I sometimes find a longer lens helps and I find my best results with my 500pf. Glad that you are busy workwise and turning your hand to a spot of painting. Take care mate.

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks very much Steve really appreciate your kind words. Yes they can be tricky to photograph but the longer focal length really helps doesn't it? Yep I'm not a massive DIY fan but these things have to be done. All the best Steve.

[@paulhab7267]

Great video thanks again,could you tell me what pond you are at thanks again paul 😊

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Hi Paul, thanks very much glad you enjoyed it. The pond is at a small reserve called the Phillis Currie nature reserve. All the best, Steve.

[@tectorama]

I was only out a couple of days ago photographing mostly Damsel flies. We were at Hanningfield Reservoir, and there weren't too many birds about. I got quite a few photos, but as they were mostly landing on the footpath in front of us, the backgrounds weren't fantastic. Lovely things though. I was using my 200-500 and Z7ii .

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Damselflies are fantastic to photograph aren't they? Backgrounds can be a problem, unless you have enough distance between the insect and the background it can look a bit messy, if they are landing on a footpath you haven't got many options . Still nice to take the images though. I do really like the 200-500 for this type of photography. This is a great time of year for insect photography I've been out photographing butterflies this afternoon.

[@nunnayrbizniz2773]

Lovely video! Your enthusiasm radiates throughout and it made me want to grab my camera and tripod and go out and photograph dragonflies! Then I realised it was night... :-D

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Hi Nunna, so glad you enjoyed my video. Good luck finding some dragonflies to photograph, when it's light of course. All the best Steve.

[@momentsinanglingessence855]

I really enjoyed this video, I am keen to know what camera body and lens you're using. I have been photographing Damselflies and Dragonflies with my phone lately and getting some great results which I've made into a video on here last week but I really want to buy the right gear.

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it. Regarding camera kit I use either my Nikon Z6II with a Nikon 105mm macro lens or a Nikon D500 with the same lens. Hope this helps, all the best, Steve.

[@momentsinanglingessence855]

Thanks Steve, I'm glad you're using Nikon as I'm more familiar with it already, what about the large 500mm lens you're using?

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Actually it's a 600mm lens. I don't use that one for close up photography because it's just too big and heavy to hand hold. All the best, Steve.

[@momentsinanglingessence855]

Yeah it's the distance photography shots that interest me in the 600mm lens, I've been lucky to creep up close to Dragonflies and get really good close shots but it's so difficult 😄. I have a few Nikon lenses already but seriously need to replace the body, its a D90 but really want to step up to one that has similar MP to my phone which is 50MP, is there a one that comes close to that within the Nikon range you would reccomend?

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Hi yes there are three Nikon camera bodies that have a high pixel count. All three have 45 million pixel sensors. The Z9 is the most expensive and is Nikon's top pro body, Z8 is the next one down also an excellent camera. Both the Z9 and Z8 have animal eye detect which is fantastic for wildlife photography. The last 45mp Nikon is the Z7II which is smaller and chaper but doesn't have eye detect. All three cameras are still quite expensive though. Hope this helps, all the best, Steve.

[@keithhider2170]

Great video and photographs - thank you for sharing. However, I think a couple of your IDs are a bit suspect. Your female ruddy darter at 13:14 looks like a female black-tailed skimmer to me and your common blue damselflies at 16:21 are azure damselflies.

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Hi Keith, thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the IDs I do find insects quite hard to identify sometimes. Cheers, all the best, Steve.

[@analogoutdoors]

I shot damsel flies all day yesterday.

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Hi Mike, sounds like you had a great day. All the best Steve.

[@Foxglove963]

Steve Hedges. Why are you using a telelens? I photograph dragonflies, garden spiders, bee-flies, etc. close up, the lens surface is usually less than 1 inch removed from the insects. Hence my photos are infinitely much sharper than your tele pics.

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

Hi thanks for commenting. I use both telephoto lenses and macro lenses for close up photography. When I can get close to the subject I will use s macro lens for optimum quality. When the insect is in an area that I just can't get to I will use a telelens. Different lens for a different job and situation. All the best Steve.

[@benarphotographer1467]

👎🏼👎🏼 only talk talk talk talk

[@robinmike5018]

Hey, I hope you are well. I have seen all videos. Very well. I appreciate your work. I want to connect with you & i have sent an email by robin, kindly check it out and if you dont find it then you can find it on spam folder. and waiting for your reply. Thanks

[@SteveHedgesPhotography]

All good here thanks. Really glad you like my vlogs. I haven't got access to my emails at the moment as soon as I do I'll have a look at your email. All the best, Steve.