Mating Damselflies

 

I really enjoy spending some time with my camera at Ballynafagh lake.  It is also known as Blackwood Reservoir and is 2km north of Prosperous.  It is a man made lake, originally made to supply water to the Grand Canal, and is a haven for wildlife.  You can try capture photos of birds or what I rather in the summer months is to observe the dragon and damselflies near the lake.

This photo was taken with my old Canon EF 180mm Macro lens on my new Canon R5ii body using the adapter.  The lens can be very frustrating to use as it is very slow to achieve focus, not ideal for a nature photographer.  But, with patience one can get a sharp shot if the creature stays around long enough.  Luckily for me this pair of damselflies were well 'occupied' and not going too far!  The mating behavior reveals a heart like shape as their bodies intwine which can make for an interesting photo.  

I used a shutter speed of 1/500 sec. with an aperture of f/11 which needed an ISO of 1,000.  I chose the f/11 aperture even though the lens has an open aperture of f/2.8 because I wanted to have both damselflies sharp and as much of their bodies as possible.  There was a clear enough background so I wasn't as worried trying to get the blur factor the open aperture can facilitate.

Apologies for the shaking video, it was hand-held!