Dragonfly

Getting near to a dragonfly may seem hard because it is quite sensitive to movements around it. However, if you study the pattern of their behaviour, it is actually one of the easiest insect to get 1:1 magnification.

Today is my first try on photographing dragonflies. I have found out some tips:

1) Look for small streams, they like to be there & rest on small branches & leafs that sticks out.

2) Even they fly away, they will still return and land on a few particular spots. Stand near the spot and wait.

3) Exploiting their behaviour in #2, I found that I can actually create movements on purpose (such as swinging my hands in front of them, they will fly away, but eventually return). Do it a few times, they will find no threat from you and will not response much to your movement. This is the time to get close.

But today is not my day, I have forgotten to charge my batteries for my flashgun. After trying a few shots, my batteries are finished when I'm about to get some really close 1:1 shots.

This is the best I can get for today:

(Not 1:1 yet, I'm still studying and observing their behaviour when I took this pic)

I also found this interesting insect moving on top of the surface of the water:

(I'm not very sure the exact scientific name of this creature, but it is from the Family of Gerridae)

This dude moves extremely fast and its very hard to get a shot of it. The worse part is, it moves constantly. It floats on top of the water using surface tension.

I also found this tiny spider on my car's windscreen when I'm about to return:

(My batteries fully drained, so I have to rely on ISO1600 + built in flash to get this pic = bad result)