A Little Time with the Camera

Things have been awfully slow around my home lately, following my head injury and subsequent surgery. And once home, the restrictions placed on me has been a real drag, compared to my normal high level of activity. But with the recent restrictions being slowly phased out, I ventured out a few days ago and took a short walk around my rural property. I was pleasantly surprised to find a pair of Ebony Jewel-wing Damselflies (Calopteryx maculata), also sometimes called Black-winged Damselflies. The pair I saw were foraging along a water runoff from my neighbor’s pond, across the road from my home.

I last saw some of these beauties a couple of years ago. They are quite difficult to spot as they tend to blend in quite well with the green leaves of the woodland edge plants. But they are often active, flying from their perch to capture a small (incredibly small!) insect in midair, then returning to the same perch. This is how I often spot them. It was getting late this evening, so I returned the next day to this location, to photograph them. With my wife’s help (she carried my tripod), while I carried my camera/lens, we walked to this location and they were still there. Here are a few images I captured of the pair:

The female has a brown, nonmetallic body with brownish wings with a glistening white spot (called a stigma) near the end of the forewing:

Female Ebony Jewel-winged Damselfly

At times, the damselfly will spread out their wings:

Female Ebony Jewel-winged Damselfly

Female Ebony Jewel-winged Damselfly

The male has a metallic green body, with no spots on the wing:

Male Ebony Jewel-winged Damselfly

Male Ebony Jewel-winged Damselfly

And the male, with it’s wings spread:

Male Ebony Jewel-winged Damselfly

Every late spring/early summer, I watch for these beauties!

Photographic Equipment Used:

  • Canon 7D body
  • Canon EF 500mm, f/4 lens + Canon 1.4x TC (I needed to use the long lens as the damselflies were down an embankment that was not readily accessible)
  • Bogen 3221 tripod, with Wemberly Gimbal head (version 1)
  • ISO 800 thru ISO 1600
  • Aperture f/5.6 (all)
  • Shutter 1/100 sec. to 1/160 sec.

 

(Note:  I will not be posting very regularly for a while. Since I’m somewhat limited to my activity, I won’t have the chance to get out very often, until I’m feeling stronger and can better move about. But I will share when I can)

 

 

Posted in Insect Photography, Nature Photography
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