Dragonflies are sometimes called "gemstones of the skies". Many of them look beautiful - the demoiselles, the emerald dragonflies, the emperor dragonfies and whatever they are called. They are great flying artists, who not only can fly very fast (up to 50 km / h), but also stay in the air or turn on the spot.
Her looks, her flying skills, the fine structure of her wings make her a fascinating photo motif.
First, two facts should be mentioned :
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Dragonflies are harmless. You can't be stinged and any biting that happens out of fear is not painful.
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Dragonflies are under protection. They must not be caught, injured or even killed .
People who want to photograph dragonflies, first think of macro lenses. When choosing a lens one thing has to be considered: Dragonflies have an escape distance - like all other animals too. That means, they will escape if we come too close. It depends on several parameters how large this distance determined by testing.
Therefore, a macro lens should have a longer focal length. With lenses from 100mm you are well served. If you want to photograph flying insects you'll need a fast autofocus because flying insects are quite fast.
But there is an alternative to macro lenses: telephoto lenses. 300mm focal length, 600mm or (with teleconverter) even more. A longer focal length brings a greater magnification, but also reduces the depth of field. Nevertheless, a longer focal length has 2 advantages:
- The distance to the dragonfly (or generally to the animal) is larger and reduces the escape reflex.
- Often enough, the dragonfly is not reachable because it is in an area that is inaccessible.
If the minimum focusing distance is insufficient, extension tubes can be used.
![[Translate to Englisch:] Spitzenfleck auf dem Ansitz](/fileadmin/bilder/insekten/Libellen/Spitzenfleck.jpg "[Translate to Englisch:] Spitzenfleck auf dem Ansitz")
Part of the dragonflies are hunting their prey from a permanent place and return again and again. These are, for example, the Banded Demoiselle, the Four-spotted chaser or the Black-tailed skimmer . These are often seen sitting on branches or on the floor.
In these cases, I usually work with a telephoto lens to get a larger distance from the animals and not to scare them. Focal lengths of 100mm or more be used. Depending on the distance, I also use a 600 or even a 840mms. In that cases must be considered that a longer focal length gives a smaller depth of field.
If using autofocus I often use one sensor point or a maximum of a block of nine points, so that no surrounding elements may confuse the autofocus.
Shutter speed and aperture depend on the focal length. At a focal length of 600mm I use 1/800 s for the exposure time, usually at anaperture of11. The ISO value is set by the camera, which is relatively good for the Canon EOS 5D III.