This is a swamp darner, a type of dragonfly. They are very pretty, and one of the larger dragonflies in North America. Caught this one trying to catch some of the warming morning sun while perched on a coyote skull.
This is a swamp darner, a type of dragonfly. They are very pretty, and one of the larger dragonflies in North America. Caught this one trying to catch some of the warming morning sun while perched on a coyote skull.
2 comments:
Your focal planes are insane. To have the front of a dragonfly's wing in focus but the back not, and to have the surface of the secondary subject (the skull) in focus at the same time is ridiculously precise! That is like a single millimeter! I would think it is purely luck, but going through your pix I see it is repeated over and over again. That is not just an amazing eye, it is nothing short of mastery of the tools. I don't know how you do that, especially with animals. It is one thing to do with still lifes, but with live animals it seems impossible to me!
Thanks, Shane!
I do try to keep my focal plane tight for close work as that is how the human eye works. Even for my landscapes I try to keep the focal plane as close as possible to what the eye actually sees. Many photographers expand that focal plane to show you what your eyes miss when seeing a particular scene, and as a result their images have a lot of "pop" and are awe-inspiring! And profitable! But I prefer showing things as your eyes would actually see them, because I believe the actual real natural world is amazing and awe-inspiring exactly as our eyes see it. Communicating that does, as you say, take precision. With the close shots particularly. It isn't as glamorous, or as profitable perhaps, but it is undeniably real.
I have seen many popular photographers putting out images that are stunningly beautiful, but which you could never actually see with your own eyes because eyes simply don't work in such a way as to ever be able to see in reality what they present to you in a photograph.
Cameras can see it, but eyes can not.
I don't sell lies. I sell what your eyes could actually see.
While much of my work is nature photography, I always try to approach it as if I am doing documentary work.
And yes...that does take a great deal of attention and effort (especially with animals!), so I appreciate your comments very much!
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