Dragons Heads

Getting close to dragonflies with the Canon MPE-65mm is difficult to achieve, but if you get a subject to pose, seeing the eye detail is a great experience.  I was fortunate enough to get a couple of different dragonflies up close and personal with the Canon MPE-65mm on my recent trip to Thursley Common.

The first one was a small female black darter which I took some head shots whilst it rested on a fir cone amongst the heather.  The first 3 shots are at around 1:1 magnification, and the last two of this subject somewhere near the 2x magnification mark on the lens.

All the photos taken in this post are single shots, taken on Canon 650D with Canon MPE-65mm Macro Lens.  ISO 200 F11 1/200.  Flash from MT-24ex Twin Flash with Cream Ice Diffusers and extra vellum.

Female Black Darter MPE-65mm (1).

The other dragonfly that was hanging on some vegetation on the edge of a boardwalk was a Golden-ringed Dragonfly.

Here are about 1.5x magnification it looks as if it is almost peeking through.

And slightly closer up.