Once in a Lifetime

I love my 100mm macro lens, but I've had to admit that it's not ideal for taking pictures of wary dragonflies. Sometimes I just need more working distance. So I sold my old Olympus equipment and bought a Canon 300mm f/4.

Yeah, I think that'll do. Also, Black Locust is considered invasive in the Upper Midwest, but it sure is pretty.

The lens is relatively close-focusing, with a maximum magnification of .24, which means it will focus on something 3.66 inches wide -- about the right size to fill the frame with a Dragonhunter. I considered just living with that minimum, since it's the larger dragonflies I usually have trouble getting close to and I'd often rather have some space around the subject anyway. But next time out I'm going to try it with some extension -- specifically, a 21mm extension tube, which I have scientifically determined to be the largest one I can put on between my camera and this lens and still zip my camera bag shut over them. That will let me focus on a rectangle about 2.5 x 1.66 inches, which is still not going to let me fill the frame with an Autumn Meadowhawk, but is significantly more flexible.

This is the same bud as yesterday, from a different angle, and rotated 90 degrees in post-processing.