I only post dragonflies when I do the “net and photograph in fingers” approach and then release. This lets you get most of the characters you need to sex and ID. Of course netting a dragonfly is often a challenge and seeing a rare one means you probably wont catch it.
Probably either grasshoppers or fishes. Both are fast and flighty, and fish are usually concealed by water glare. I still try though :)
The fungi are so small that I can’t get a non blurred photo when I try to zoom😅 could you help with how to focus better on them?
I was walking in a local park yesterday. There was a naturalist doing a pond-dipping event for some high school students. I got some decent photos of some dragonfly nymphs and what I think is a giant water bug nymph. If you zoom in on the dragonfly nymphs, you can see the wings developing. It was bright sunlight. The water was very shallow. I put my finger on the tip of my lens to feel for the surface of the water and then held the camera right over the water.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/182348808
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Tbh there comes a point where you need to either get a camera with a macro lens or photograph through a magnifying glass. I definitely struggle with super tiny ascomycetes and slime molda sometimes
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Hummingbirds
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Swallows and swifts
Furthermore I don’t use a DSLR, I use one of those point-and-shoot superzooms that don’t focus that quickly
Even on holiday, faced with a new type of swallow or swift on my bird list, I don’t bother with the camera EXCEPT if it is gracefully perched on a wire - then I snap away happily
Seems like the annoying factor comes down to two different things — the behavior of the organism (too fast, elusive, small) and the camera equipment one has. Even with the best camera gear some animals are just tough, regardless. But that’s the one thing that a photographer can control to some extent if you’re able to invest in gear.
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I would add a third factor, personally: how cool or enticing the organism is. I definitely get more annoyed if it’s a really rare/cool/beautiful organism.
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Yeah, and I fail to get a good picture (or any picture) because I fumbled my camera.
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