As summer fades, I have been seeing fewer and fewer dragonflies, so I decided to attempt some in-flight shots and managed to capture these images of a female Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula vibrans).
Photographing dragonflies in flight is one of my toughest photographic challenges, but I have learned a few tricks about capturing these kinds of shots. One way is to find a favorite perch of a dragonfly and try to photograph the dragonfly arriving and departing from that perch, given that dragonflies often return to the same perches. That was not the approach that I used this time.
The approach I used is to capture the dragonfly while it is hovering and is therefore in the same spot for a few seconds. I watched as two blue skimmers mated quickly and I knew that I had a target of opportunity, because the female would soon deposit the eggs in the water. She hovered in the air and then dipped her tail end down to the water to deposit some eggs and returned to the hover position and repeated the process. It was during this process that I got these shots.
I am always struck by the beautiful blue eyes of the Great Blue Skimmer, particularly in the female. The male is all blue, so his eyes don’t provide the same visual contrast as the drabber colored body of the female.
The dwindling dragonfly population is yet another sign of the changing of the seasons—it won’t be long before I begin to focus my camera lens more frequently on birds than on insects, but I am not giving up on my insects quite yet.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Great shots Mike – I admire your perseverance and patience! 😀
Ah, the joys of trying to photograph wildlife. I tend to be pretty persistent and am willing to take lots of shots in sometimes unsuccessful pursuits of a decent shot. The good news is that I am learning about the features of my camera as I try different settings and approaches.
Always good to know – I haven’t a clue yet! 😀
One thing that strikes ne about this post is the importance of studying and knowing the habits of your subject. Your knowledge of dragonflies and other insects has grown!
I am learning a whole lot as a result of my photography. I am naturally curious, so it’s fun to do research about my subjects after I have photographed them. I am also unusually persistent and willing to try a lot of different approaches to try to get a shot.
Amazingly sharp pictures, Mike, of a tricky subject. I’m tempted to give it another try after getting a few like that in the past but nowhere close to such a tight focus.
It was definitely a challenge trying to manually focus on a moving subject that was pretty close. As I noted, the female would hover and then dip down–I tried to catch her in between the dips and somehow got a few shots in focus.
I found a strange bug while I was photographing and have been looking for information about it. Unfortunately, I have been unsuccessful. You can see my bug here http://bravonatalis.wordpress.com
I’ll see if I can figure out what it is, though I am mystified at the start.
Good for you to get the timing down. Not easy!
Now if I could just get my timing down on my jokes… I’m constantly having to adapt when in a situation like that, trying out different options in the hope that one of them works.
And that’s what separates those who value humour – we keep trying!
You set yourself a tough challenge to catch a dragonfly in flight but it was was worth it!
Thanks. There are certain aspirational goals that I like to shoot for and capturing insects and birds in flight are among those goals. (I also want to get a shot of a frog on a lily pad.)
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