Dragonfly conservation
Capturing the life cycles and seasons of these intriguing winged insects
I’m passionate about dragonflies and I’m working on a project to document all 23 breeding species in my home county of Northamptonshire.
I’ve had a lifelong interest in wildlife, but only began photographing dragonflies seriously in around 2002. When I joined the British Dragonfly Society, my knowledge of their behaviour and habitats gave me greater success in photographing them. My goal was to record all the species in my home county of Northamptonshire – I’ve since added three new species to the county total. My current project is to record them at each adult life stage.
Dragonflies are threatened by habitat changes. I regularly give talks to conservation organisations to encourage a love for these beautiful
insects, and ensure habitat management policies are developed to protect them.
Dragonflies aren’t the easiest insects to photograph because they are skittish and take flight very quickly on your approach. It wasn’t until I honed my fieldcraft through learning their behaviour that I began to get good results. You don’t need a macro lens; I soon found that a closefocusing 300mm lens and teleconverter was just about perfect for frame-filling shots.
Photographing them in flight is a big challenge. Here, knowledge of their behaviour really helps you predict where they will be, although modern AF systems really help. When photographing static insects, a great number of AF points allows fine-tuning for maximum sharpness. I tend to shoot with a fixed shutter speed and aperture in Manual mode, with Auto ISO. If the subject doesn’t stand out well against the background, the shot won’t be as appealing. I currently use the new Canon 100-400mm with a 1.4x Extender. The f/8 AF on the 1D X allows real flexibility with this lens and extender combination. I always shoot Raw and convert in Canon’s free DPP software.
My set illustrates each of the breeding stages of adults, from emergence to finding a mate and egg laying.
If your subject doesn’t stand out well, the shot will not be as appealing