I featured this Slender Spreadwing damselfly (Lestes rectangularis) in an earlier posting in a series of action shots, but thought this more formal portrait deserved a posting of its own.
As I stalked this beautiful little dragonfly, it moved to a number of different perches and it is interesting to see how the background shifted in terms of color palette and clutteredness (I think I may have just created a new word). In the gymnastics shots of this damselfly, the background was bright and colorful and a little busy, whereas the background here is darker and a bit more moody, with just a hint of colors. Be sure to click on the image to see a higher resolution view of this little damselfly that was probably less than 2 inches ( 50 mm) long.
Those of you who like to observe damselflies know that this species is an exception to the general rule that damselflies, unlike dragonflies, hold their wing close into and parallel to their bodies when at rest. My fellow photographer and blogger, Walter Sanford, an expert on dragonflies, was the one who first spotted this damselfly and you should check out his blog for lots of wonderful wildlife photos, including a recent image of a perched Wandering Glider dragonfly, a species that never seems to land.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
That dragonfly that never lands must be the one I’ve been chasing all summer! This shot is excellent.
Thanks. It was a bit of luck that I was able to get some shots of this little damselfly and amazing that I was able to get one this sharp, given that I was focusing manually. As I recall, I shot this at about 300mm on a 70-300mm telephoto lens and it’s quite likely that I would not have been able to get close enough to get a good shot with my macro lens (and inevitably the damselfly would have flown away when I changed lenses).
Beautiful. I have read that bug photogs sometimes carry coloured pieces of paper with them to get different coloured backgrounds. That’s another way to get your result. I think I need one the size of an elk!
You also need a patient elk, while someone runs our behind him with the appropriate backdrop. For the moment, I am going to try to work with nature and try to get the results I want by moving my feet and changing my camera settings. (There are also techniques to refrigerate the insects to slow them down and then shoot them in a studio in a simulated natural setting–that may give you great shots, but I don’t think that I will be doing that.)
Didn’t think so!
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