Photography in the Heat.
18th July 2021
At last some meaningful emergence of the local Odonata. This warm weather is bringing them out in numbers, albeit about three weeks to a month behind last year for some species. On a local upland stream Golden Ringed dragonflies are now flying and also some Emperors are on the wing. On Friday in the heat there was a big emergence of Keeled Skimmers and Four Spotted Chasers. There are thousands of damselflies milling around, with Common Blue, Blue Tail, Scarce Blue Tail, Azure and Large Red in numbers. Beautiful Demoiselles are also flying in small numbers - living up to their name.
I was sat on my walk stool on the edge of the above mentioned small stream watching Large Red Damselflies going about their business. I was wearing shorts and with the cooling water running over my wellington clad feet I felt very contented. However, the sun was still fierce and unrelenting in a cloudless sky and I was really feeling it through my wide brimmed hat. A woman walker passed by about fifty yards away and stopped to look at me, seemingly amused by this strange man sat on a stool in a stream wearing shorts and wellingtons - nevertheless I was prepared to wager my feet were cooler than hers!
As I looked at a few stems of Rye grass on the stream’s edge I could see a male and female Large Red Damselfly mating. The grass stem was in isolation with no ‘clutter’ just a mellow pastel coloured background. People who read this blog know I like a smooth background, it’s just as important as the subject for me. I was using a 100mm macro lens with an extension tube on my Canon 7D2 and handholding this kit allowed me to get in quite close - if the insects allowed! Fortunately for me they were ‘preoccupied’ and I got to within a few inches of them, and when the grass stem stopped swaying in the very slight stream-side breeze I fired off a few shots. I backed off then and checked the images on the camera and they looked Ok.
Notice the classic inverted heart shape mating posture which is typical of this order of insects.
The male clasps the female behind her head and she then lifts her abdomen up so that the end segment which contains her unfertilized eggs comes into contact with the males reproductive gland and her eggs are then fertilized. She then later uses her ovipositor to lay the eggs back into typically a stream or pond, thereby starting the whole life cycle over again.
(The only sad thing is when we see these beautiful creatures flying around enriching our lives they are at the very end of their life and will die soon after. These little wisps of transient beauty last for as little as a couple of weeks).
Canon 7D MK2 DSLR
Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro Lens
Canon 25mm Extension Tube
Handheld manual focus
I decided to pack in then because it was now late afternoon and the heat was becoming debilitating. When I got home and after a cool shower I still felt overheated so I forced myself to drink some cans of ice cold cider in the shade in my garden – it’s tough I know but somebodies got to do it!
I was sat on my walk stool on the edge of the above mentioned small stream watching Large Red Damselflies going about their business. I was wearing shorts and with the cooling water running over my wellington clad feet I felt very contented. However, the sun was still fierce and unrelenting in a cloudless sky and I was really feeling it through my wide brimmed hat. A woman walker passed by about fifty yards away and stopped to look at me, seemingly amused by this strange man sat on a stool in a stream wearing shorts and wellingtons - nevertheless I was prepared to wager my feet were cooler than hers!
As I looked at a few stems of Rye grass on the stream’s edge I could see a male and female Large Red Damselfly mating. The grass stem was in isolation with no ‘clutter’ just a mellow pastel coloured background. People who read this blog know I like a smooth background, it’s just as important as the subject for me. I was using a 100mm macro lens with an extension tube on my Canon 7D2 and handholding this kit allowed me to get in quite close - if the insects allowed! Fortunately for me they were ‘preoccupied’ and I got to within a few inches of them, and when the grass stem stopped swaying in the very slight stream-side breeze I fired off a few shots. I backed off then and checked the images on the camera and they looked Ok.
Notice the classic inverted heart shape mating posture which is typical of this order of insects.
The male clasps the female behind her head and she then lifts her abdomen up so that the end segment which contains her unfertilized eggs comes into contact with the males reproductive gland and her eggs are then fertilized. She then later uses her ovipositor to lay the eggs back into typically a stream or pond, thereby starting the whole life cycle over again.
(The only sad thing is when we see these beautiful creatures flying around enriching our lives they are at the very end of their life and will die soon after. These little wisps of transient beauty last for as little as a couple of weeks).
Canon 7D MK2 DSLR
Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro Lens
Canon 25mm Extension Tube
Handheld manual focus
I decided to pack in then because it was now late afternoon and the heat was becoming debilitating. When I got home and after a cool shower I still felt overheated so I forced myself to drink some cans of ice cold cider in the shade in my garden – it’s tough I know but somebodies got to do it!