[squirl033]

these little fellas can be tricky to capture in flight... takes a lot of patience and a good measure of luck!  

[Toad]

Impressive. What sort of lens did you use for this? I would be interested in hearing a bit about your technique.

[squirl033]

Impressive. What sort of lens did you use for this? I would be interested in hearing a bit about your technique.

thanks, Toad. these were shot with a Sigma EX80-400 lens at focal lengths between 200 and 400mm, f/5.6. the trick is to watch their flight patterns... dragons will often fly in a more or less regular pattern, returning to the same places numerous times, and will sometimes hover for 2-3 seconds. by aiming the lens at one of their "repeat" locations, it's fairly easy to catch them in the viewfinder, and if you're ready for them, there's enough time for the AF to lock on and get a shot.

[admiralsfan]

these little fellas can be tricky to capture in flight... takes a lot of patience and a good measure of luck!  

Beautiful work!

When you say you point at their regular locations, how long (in total) did you spend getting these shots? I assume quite a while but you make it sound easy.

[Toad]

Thanks for the tips, rocky. These photos are a real tour de force.

[Don Schaeffer]

I tried this too but your shots are great. Mine were not. Good work.

[NT73]

I have one a little larger, but it is deceased.

I found one on a wall in a nature reserve, but as I set my tripod up I was overwhelmed with photographers (like the paperazzi with a pop diva.) I got nudged, elbowed and pushed, so the end result was not so good.