[dod]

Went back to the pond to try to catch these critturs, they won't sit still for me so resorted to trying to catch them flying. They're cheeky little devils, they were flying right up to me, sitting for half a second and then darting off again. Autofocus wasn't quick enough so had to try to prefocus on the points they were visiting and make quick adjustments.

They're not as sharp as I'd have liked but these are the best of the almost okay ones. They're all crops from the originals

Edit ohoh, 500 posts,spending too much time on here

[fingerz]

Wow. Well done capturing them. I think the first and third ones work the best, in my opinion.

Can I ask what aperture/speed/ISO combinations you were typically using?

[dod]

ISO 200, never bother changing it nowadays, 1/320 at F10 and a burst of fill flash to get the exposure

[Matty]

fantastic Dod, ive not seen anything like that, the first is a corker, very well done!

[dod]

funnily enough until recently I didn't even know you got them up here, the wife's been nag.. encouraging me to take some more exercise so I took a walk in Culbin Forest. I knew there was a pond and was hoping for some reflection shots, which I didn't get but found out about these

Thanks for the comments

[CT]

3rd shot is incredible - those wings are respectably sharp. If you get another chance it might be worth trying the hi speed flash technique with a much faster shutter speed and a larger aperture.

[dod]

Originally Posted by CT

3rd shot is incredible - those wings are respectably sharp. If you get another chance it might be worth trying the hi speed flash technique with a much faster shutter speed and a larger aperture.

I did try that as well but the flash falls off pretty quickly. I found you needed to open up the lens or reduce the shutter speed to get decent exposures. What I forgot to try was upping the ISO

Ah well, they're just a couple of miles down the road

[CT]

Originally Posted by dod

I did try that as well but the flash falls off pretty quickly. I found you needed to open up the lens or reduce the shutter speed to get decent exposures. What I forgot to try was upping the ISO

Fair comment - it does tend to work best at very close distances and you do end up pushing the ISO up for DOF.

[IanC_UK]

All excellent ! 1st and 3rd really are superb though !

[dod]

Originally Posted by CT

Fair comment - it does tend to work best at very close distances and you do end up pushing the ISO up for DOF.

I'm not that great with flash techniques CT, does the high speed set up work with a twin flash set up, slave and master? I know the 500 I have can be used as a slave with the sigma ringflash

Thanks Ian

[CT]

Originally Posted by dod

I'm not that great with flash techniques CT, does the high speed set up work with a twin flash set up, slave and master? I know the 500 I have can be used as a slave with the sigma ringflash

I honestly don't know for sure, but I doubt it. The flashgun has to have hi speed sync capability AND be connected to a dedicated camera so that the shutter speed is read into the flashgun from the camera, and so that the flash can match it's output to the selected shutter speed. With the 20D and the 580EX I get a symbol on the flashgun and in the viewfinder when hi speed sync is properly set up.

Traditionally, flash sync speeds have been relatively slow with SLRs due to the focal plane shutter. The problem is that with faster shutter speeds the two curtains travel together forming a moving slit which exposes the image. Flash duration is so short (shorter than the total slit crossing time) that the image would only be partly exposed. Early SLRs always had horizontal travel. Changing to vertical travel which pretty well all modern cameras do, has given slightly quicker flash sync times, but we're still restricted to the fastest speed at which the shutter is fully open, which in the case of the 20D is 1/250 second - not bad, but far from ideal for sports and action photography.

If I understand it correctly hi speed sync isn't true sync - I believe it works by pulsing the flash output during the exposure so that the moving slit you get with the higher-than-usual shutter speed is continuously fed by the pulsing flash so that the film or sensor receives the correct expoure across it's entire surface. To be honest it makes my head hurt just thinking about how it can possibly work, but I'm just glad that it does -certainly at macro distances. At greater distances, as you've found - it's more limited with flash fall-off being fairly rapid, forcing the use of larger apertures.

Best I can do mate for an old shutter hack trying to come to terms with the new technology.

[KenCo1964]

No 1 for me. Excellent capture, I am there and it is hovering in front of me, That's how good it is. Nice colours, sharp and facing the camera. Well done.