Banded Demoiselles and White-legged Damselflies

There were a great number of male Banded Demoiselles just hanging around waiting for a female to arrive. Once a female arrived she was the centre of attention and one male managed to grasp her and fly to vegetation to mate. The White-legged Damselflies seemed to prefer to egg lay in groups.

Bedfordshire Damsel and Demoiselles - Wide Angle Shots

It has become an annual pilgrimage to visit a Bedfordshire site and sit in the brook for an afternoon photographing White-legged Damselflies and Banded Demoiselles. Last year I recorded video (link at end of post); this year as well as using a long lens for flight etc (post to follow), I had fun stalking the insects with a wide-angle lens and photographing them in their habitat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNvglZ-bMvs

Sidgwick Site Cambridge

As the sun set and the lights in the buildings came on, the Sidgwick site took on a very different feel.

Unexpected Encounter

I visited Hayley Wood late afternoon yesterday to photograph butterflies and on my way back encountered this Hare on the track ahead. He looked around, decided OK to feed and then after another look around came towards me, stopped, then came even closer filling the lens. As I zoomed out to the 100 mm end of the lens he spotted me and was off!!

 

Marbled White Butterflies

As this morning dawned completely still, I took an early walk to local meadows to photograph Marbled White Butterflies waking up from their roost. The first six images are focus stacks of 25-40 images. It was great to have a male and female on a grass head which then moved to a carrot head to feed as they warmed up. The last two are taken with wide angle lens. 

 

The Blue Hours in Cambridge Sidgwick Site

Fifteen Members of Cambridge Camera Club met for an evening photography session around the modern buildings on the Sidgwick site. I decided to have a go at multiple exposures with different Blend modes and changing the White Balance between shots. Here are some of my favourites.