300mm Closeups at Dunyeats Heath

The Canon 300mm F4 – has a macro setting.  It is not true macro ( i.e 1:1 scale) but can be useful to take close ups of insects from further away.  Especially useful on subjects that are over water, where to get close with a true macro lens you would have to either get wet, or be properly equipped.  On a recent trip to Dunyeats Heath Nature Reserve in Broadstone, Poole, I took only this lens and a monopod to take the larger insects present there.

I was pleasantly pleased to see this pair of Emperors mating on the wing, and being harassed by another male.  They eventually landed nearby and I was able to take this vertical panorama image of them.  (It is two pictures combined).

Mating Emporers Panorama
Mating Emperors Panorama

Hunting / Patrolling in the air allowed me to attempt to take them in flight too.  This the best result from the day of those.

Emperor in flight
Canon EOS 760D (420mm, f/8, 1/400 sec, ISO400)
Emperor in flight

Also present were several Four-spotted chasers.

Some inland.

Four-spotted Chaser
Canon EOS 760D (420mm, f/8, 1/640 sec, ISO400)
Four-spotted Chaser

And some perched in the pond reeds.

Four-spotted Chaser
Canon EOS 760D (420mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec, ISO400)
Four-spotted Chaser

Also about were some skipper butterflies – this one perched on a grass stem and posed nicely.

Skipper
Canon EOS 760D (420mm, f/11, 1/250 sec, ISO400)
Skipper

These pair of mating damselflies, provided the classic ring pose on grass.

Mating damselflies
Canon EOS 760D (420mm, f/10, 1/250 sec, ISO400)
Mating damselflies

And spinning round a more unusual look.

Mating damselflies (2)
Canon EOS 760D (420mm, f/11, 1/200 sec, ISO400)
Mating damselflies (2)

Map of Location

 

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