More Dragonfly Photo Tips

I went to Broadmoor today and wandered around for about 3 1/2 hours, taking 458 pics. This was caused by following my new rules. Until the critter gets bored and flies or crawls away I will keep clicking away.

^Heavy crops from photos shot at 100 mm.

I had been avoiding using my 55-250 mm IS lens after trying it in Disney with less than stellar results. I'm still unimpressed with it's auto focus, but when I switched to manual I managed some very nice dragonfly pics today. The only big downside I have with it is focusing distance, which starts at a whopping 3.6 feet. However, it helps a lot when you can't get anywhere near a critter. It also seems to work better, or at least easier in manual focus. On my cape vacation I discovered that in manual focus mode you can still get a focus spot when you hit focused. I was kind of impressed. I ended up with a good dozen in focus dragonfly pics with the lens, handheld even. I also discovered that Broadmoor has Ebony Jewelwings (Calopteryx maculata), though they're very hard to photograph. They can be seen on the Hemlock Trail along the river. You'll have better luck on the side without the waterfall, as they seem to like sunlight. I'm going to Garden in the Woods tomorrow, so there will likely be more dragonfly pics.