Here is how this shooting episode went. I spot a couple of lonely and isolated clouds in the sky on the drive home and decide to drive to my “go to” hill in the little town of Latrobe. That took all of 3 minutes to shoot. Then as I normally do, I look around for any compositions I can shoot before leaving. Scanning down the barbed-wire fence line, I notice a dragonfly, then eventually another. 20 minutes and 45 shots later, I am ready to leave.
(Click thru the image for the 700px view)
Post-script: One piece of info I meant to add to this post is creating a shallow depth-of-focus (aka blurry background) without necessarily owning a macro or fast (low f/stop) lens. If you look at the EXIF data, you can see this was at a focal length of 165mm, which means I used the 55-200mm zoom lens rather than the 18-55. I could have used the 18-55 and just moved the camera closer, but the background would not have been as intentionally out of focus. So remember, while you cannot be inches away from the object to focus like a short lens may allow, using a longer lens helps blur the background in situations like this.
EXIF data: Nikon D7000, center weighted metering mode, ISO 100, 165mm, f/5.3, 1/125 sec
Latrobe (CA), Dragonfly, Barbed Wire. Latrobe, California. September 17, 2013. © Copyright Steven Tze – all rights reserved.
Steven Tze Photography 
Love this shot.
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Thanks Tamara and thanks for stopping by!
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Love this one! I’m often looking at mini-ecosystems to share.
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Thanks Nancy! I appreciate you stopping by. Yes, it’s good to “downsize” the view sometimes. I’m usually focused on the wide-angle big view, but I glad I remember to look around at these mini-ecosystems when the big picture isn’t all that inspiring.
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