Like a bullet


They shoot through the air like a bullet and are a real challenge to capture with a camera!  This shot of an Emperor Dragonfly in flight was taken at Ballynafagh Lake.  

Ballynafagh Lake is at a nature reserve also referred to as the Blackwood Reservoir and can be found just north of Prosperous in Kildare.  Along with birds, in the summer months you will find an abundance of insects such as damselflies and the above dragonfly.  It is a peaceful and tranquil place to spend an hour immersed in nature without too much disturbance from people.

After at least 100 shots of a blurred dot I finally got this identifiable dragonfly.  The shutter was set at the a fast 1/8000 sec with an open aperture of f8.  Auto ISO set at 6400 which was a little high as the DeNoise software is not as accurate when the background is 'fussy'.  It was taken with the lens (and 1.4 extender) maxed to 560mm.  I used eye tracking and continuous shooting on the Canon R6 to try focus on the flying object.

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