Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Just Hanging Around at Lay Lake


Like Dusty said on his blog the other day, these guys are incredibly hyperactive and difficult to catch. This one had staked out this twig as his home base (at least for a few minutes) and was using it as his lookout position to guard his little corner of the lake. When any other dragonfly, or mosquito hawk as I grew up calling them, came near, he would dart at them, chase them away, and return to his perch. Since he routinely landed near the same spot, I set up the tripod, focussed on that spot, and waited with the shutter release cable in my hand. He would land and I would trip off several shots. Until that afternoon I really did not know there are so many different kinds of dragonflies, many sizes, and colors, but all the same basic helicopter shape. And all very adept at changing directions abruptly in mid-air.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, such a pretty blue color and great micro focusing! Glad that you were so patient and I like how you were able to take the time to observe their behavior and pass that on to us.

Vivian aka Deborah said...

Awesome, AWESOME shot! Your patience paid off! Is this dragonfly really that blue in real life? Stunning.
Here on Long Island, the dragonflies I've seen are brownish. I have a photo on my blog of one that was on a tire....I think it was his last day....poor thing. I love dragonflies!