Monday 4 September 2017

Southern Delights

Each year I look forward to seeing the male Southern Hawker. The mix of colours on this species are just incredible to see and I often find myself mesmerized by the colours in the eyes. I have seen a few males on my last few encounters at Nethergong but they have rarely given me a chance to photograph them perched. I have found this species quite tricky to photograph in flight as they seem to only pause ever so briefly in flight to hover unlike the Migrant and Norfolk Hawker which can hover for some time. I was lucky to find one flying up and down a ditch last weekend which seemed to follow the same path so using the Sigma 150mm macro lens again, I settled into a position near the waters edge and started to study its movements and when and where it paused to hover. My answers didn't help much as although it continued to fly up and down the ditch, it was pausing to hover in a variety of areas at different heights. Knowing I only ever had  taken a few flight shots of this species, I was determined to capture something with the camera so I spent the next frustrating hour firing off a number of blurred shots, empty frame shots, parts of dragonfly shots and thankfully, a few shots where my luck held out. I found it really hard if I was honest and didn't know whether to follow and track the hawker or wait for it to hover and then rush to focus and fire off shots. In the end I decided on the latter and had to work at pace when it briefly paused. There is still lots of room for improvement with these shots but its a step in the right direction and I enjoyed the challenge. In other news, I have finally managed to photograph a few Brown Hawkers over the past week. Not processed them yet but hopefully, my next post may bring you in my opinion, one of the toughest species to photograph. 




Southern Hawker (male) in flight

10 comments:

  1. Nicely done Marc. Strange that the Southern Hawkers seem to like watching us as much as we do them!! I agree with your comments on the Brown Hawker. Only easy when the females are egg laying.

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    1. Many thanks Bob. I love how inquisitive they are too. As for the Brown's, every year they make me work for a shot. Part of the fun I suppose.

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  2. Those eyes are mesmerizing - you could fall right into another world ...

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  3. They certainly are Wilma. Just to study the colours in these alone are amazing. Nature can certainly deliver some impressive sights.

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  4. Fantastic Marc, motion is the art.

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    1. Many thanks Bob. Always a challenge these flight shots but often very worthwhile.

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  5. I found a southern hawker a couple of days ago, took about 50 flight shots and then gave up because I couldn't get any where near your standard. Envious of Sussex.

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    1. Many thanks Mike. They are quite challenging aren't they but like you, I had many shots that were nowhere near usable. Just get back out there and keep practicing.

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  6. It's good to know you took these great shots with the Sigma 150, Marc. I love the way your backgrounds compliment the wonderful colours of this dragon. You've now set me a target to work towards with the same lens. I shall enjoy the attempts!

    Best regards - - - Richard

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    1. Many thanks Richard. As long as I can get close enough it's easier to pick up and track them with the Sigma 150mm lens. I'm impressed with the results.

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