Monday 6 February 2017

Large Red Damselfly Nymph

Having collected a few Large Red Damselfly nymphs at the weekend from a friends pond, I spent an hour or so last night taking a number of photos of them in my indoor tank. I had already prepared the tank a few days earlier with water and made sure the glass was as clear as I could get it and everything within it had settled. I have learnt over time that if you disturb too much within the tank, that when you take the photos and the flash goes off, everything tiny microscopic bit of dust is caught and illuminated meaning hours of cloning out little dots to get the desired effects. Whilst I don't mind removing the odd speck within the tank, its easier to prepare well first. After introducing the Large Red Damselfly nymph to the water it made its way straight to the pre-positioned pieces of weed near the glass which made my task much easier. I had the camera mounted on the tripod to make the shots steadier and with a cup of tea at hand, I spent a while studying and photographing this lovely nymph. This is our first damselfly to appear in this country during Early April and hopefully, I will be able to monitor these in my pond now and photograph them emerging. In a few weeks time I will plant a few reeds in pots and put them in the pond and hope that they choose these from which to emerge on. This will give me the chance to get into a few good positions and move the pots to desired areas to produce non cluttered backgrounds if I wish to do so. With March on the horizon, the nymphs will soon be colouring up ready to emerge. Exciting times are not too far away. Hopefully a session or two with a few more Hairy Dragonfly nymphs in the next few evenings.






Large Red Damselfly Nymph

6 comments:

  1. Fabulous nymph Marc, no more can I say, superb.

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    1. Many thanks Bob. Pleased with how these turned out.

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    1. Many thanks John. Still working on ways to improve them but pretty pleased with the results so far.

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  3. Super images, Marc, and a great tip about pre-preparation of the tank which I will bear in mind if ever I decide to go down this route - thank you. Maybe it's time to start working on Mrs P to get me a Sigma 150 macro for my birthday!

    Best wishes - - - Richard

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    1. Many thanks Richard. You should give it a go. It's another part of the education about this fascinating part of their lives. The lens is a winner as far as I'm concerned. Capable of some quality shots.

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