Friday 30 July 2021

Reaping the Rewards!

Like with any hobby that we do, the more you put into it, the better chance of a reward. This has certainly proven the case in the past week with my visits to Nethergong to see the Southern Migrant Hawkers which have taken up residence at the site this year. I normally travel to a few sites in Kent each year to see them but with them being 10 minutes down the road, I cannot help but keep going back for more. With a number of pleasing photos taken already of this species this year, I arrived a few days ago to see what was on offer in the sunshine and noticed a male patrolling an area of dried up mud in the reeds. I set about trying to capture a few images in flight which can be difficult at the best of times. I had made my initial notes in my head of where best to stand, places the hawker was stopping to hover, settings and background choices and set about taking a few initial shots. As ever, this activity ranges from fun to quite stressful as the odd shot works out but many aren't quite what you want but as the afternoon progressed, I noticed the hawker was approaching quite close to check me out. I could see a shot in my head developing of trying to get the eyes perfectly in focus with the body out of focus. The only problem with this was as the hawker approached, he would only hover very briefly before flying away at speed again. I tried my best to prefocus on an area where he seemed to stop and just crossed everything and hoped. I fired off a few shots which didn't quite work out but eventually all fell into place when I managed to get focus quickly and just fired off a few shots. After checking the back of the camera, I had a few nearly shots and then one shot out of the batch which seemed to look quite good. What you see on a camera and what you see on the computer can be quite different but I'm pleased to see that after a bit of editing, I have a shot which I'm really pleased with. I like the way the head and thorax are in focus and then the rest out of focus. It naturally drawers your eye into the eyes of this stunning dragonfly and even looks like the hawker has pupils and eye brows (someone suggested I had drawn these on!). This has to be my favourite shot so far this year I have taken and may take some beating. As the 'A Team' would have said, "I like it when a plans comes together!". 


Southern Migrant Hawker (Aeshna affinis) - male

11 comments:

  1. WOW!....HECK!....BLOODY HELL! MARC.

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    1. Many thanks Pete. A lovely story and memory and a shot I'm really pleased with. Take care.

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  2. That is an incredible photo Marc, what an absolute beauty! Wow, it literally takes my breath away, truly stunning!! I hope you have a great summer break. Take care, Chris

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    1. Good to hear from you Chris and I hope you are well. Thank you for your kind words. They are much appreciated. Hope to bump into you soon. Take care.

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  3. That is an incredible image mate - absolutely superb! You are justifiably pleased with such a result - Dyl

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    1. Good to hear from you Dyl, hope you are well and enjoying life. Many thanks for your visit and comment. I'm my worst critic as often photographers are but even I'm pleased with this image. Take care.

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  4. That is an unbelievable shot Marc. Take care.
    Mike.

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    1. Many thanks Mike,much appreciated. Take care.

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  5. Wow, love the image, one of the best, cheers Marc.

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    1. Much appreciated Bob. One of my faves too. Take care.

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  6. Sorry about my long absence, Marc - been trying to catch up with photo processing. I now only have three days of backlog to work on!

    That is an utterly fabulous shot!

    Stay safe - - - Richard

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