Female Migrant Hawker

This may not be the most artistic photo I?ve taken today, but one thing struck me about it. I took three lenses out with me today, and the 18-270 was the only one that would have given me this result. The dragonfly was slightly too far away even at the long end of the superzoom. So I stood on a fence, and lowered the branch with one hand whilst taking the photo with the other.

If I?d have tried that with my macro lens, it still would have been too far away, and if I?d have tried it with my fast telephoto, the weight of it would have probably broken my wrist right before I dropped the camera. I certainly couldn?t have held it steady enough single-handedly.

Nikon D300; Tamron 18-270mm @ 270mm; 200 ISO; f/11; 1/125 second. VC on.

PS. The dragonfly wasn?t catapulted when I let go of the branch, in case you were concerned.