… so, Monday morning we were on Lake Mary early morning, and it was cool enough I wore a light jacket. As soon as we launched Knot Yacht it was a wide-open throttle as we headed to the southeast end of Upper Lake Mary and the fields of Long Root Smart Weed that cover tens of acres of water in the shallow end of the lake … mostly three to five feet deep. Our goal for the day was getting high quality shots of the dragon flies and damselflies that live in the area … given the small size of these creatures and the rapidity with which they fly and change direction it is a true challenge to grab a focus and get a shot … even at rest the subject is so tiny that it is difficult to lock a focus. I found the 100-500 lens on the Canon R5 to be the perfect lens as I could lock a focus just a couple of feet away at 100mm or a distance at 500mm. I was shooting at 1/3200th of a second mostly and stepped up to 1/4000th of a second for some.
The shot above center subject shows a Common Green Darner dragonfly depositing her eggs on the underwater portion of the Smart Weed in the upper left corner two Damselflies mating and forming the characteristic heart shape when they are coupled … below them is a Damselfly perched on the stem.
Below is a shot of three Damselflies perched on a leaf … the upper right Damselfly is perched and below him a pair of Damselflies is beginning to mate. An interesting article on the mating habits of Dragonflies and Damselflies can be found by clicking on the text in magenta.
Fabulous week to be working on the portfolio and the collection … keep breathing and keep smiling!
Cheers,
Ted
I know I do not understand this world,
This universe of life and growth and death.
I do not damn the Maker, saying still
Within myself that surely all is well.
The myriad stars shine nightly in the sky,
The earth yields forth her budding brood in spring,
And always dawn and noon and dark succeed;
Volcanoes burst and flooding rains descend,
And sprigs shoot forth where barren winter lay;
The piping winds bound through the bending trees,
And withered leaves again return to earth;
Soft lips grow hard and tresses gold turn grey;
Sweet babes are born, and stooping, aged men
Depart into the soft and silent night.
And not one jot of all this can I change.
Part one of eleven The Task by Max Ehrmann
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The easiest way to reach Mr. Grussing is by email: ted@tedgrussing.com
In addition to sales of photographs already taken Ted does special shoots for patrons on request and also does air-to-air photography for those who want photographs of their airplanes in flight. All special photographic sessions are billed on an hourly basis.
Ted also does one-on-one workshops for those interested in learning the techniques he uses. By special arrangement Ted will do one-on-one aerial photography workshops which will include actual photo sessions in the air.
More about Ted Grussing …
