Photographing any dragonfly in flight is a real challenge, but this past weekend I spent time chasing after some of the smallest ones, the Eastern Amberwing dragonflies (Perithemis tenera). According to Bugguide, these dragonflies are typically 21-24mm in length, which is less than one inch, with a wingspan of maybe two inches or so.
There were lots of male Eastern Amberwings buzzing around the edges of a small pond at Green Spring Gardens, one of the local gardens that I like to visit. They were within range of the 180mm macro lens that I was using, but focusing and tracking were my biggest problems. The dragonflies did tend to hover a bit, which helped a little, but it was tough to get them in focus when focusing manually and almost impossible to do so with auto-focus.
I took a lot of shots and was happy that I managed to get some in decent focus, though I did have to crop the images. As I was preparing this posting, I noticed that I spent some time a year ago attempting to photograph the same dragonfly species. I think the results this year are marginally better, but you can make your own call by clicking on this link to the posting from July 2013.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Ok, a bird in flight is hard enough! I’m amazed that you got a dragonfly in flight. Kudos!
Thanks. Whether it’s birds or dragonflies, there’s a lot of luck (and missed shots) involved. The good news about dragonflies is that they tend to hang around a lot longer in one spot than the birds do. Once the birds are gone, they’re usually gone for good.
Amazing pictures. Did you offer them an insect to pause a second or 2 for the pictures?
Those wings seem to rotate in all directions, and I’ve never noticed how they pull their legs up when flying. I’m glad you were able to stop the action to show these features. I am really lousy at focusing on dragonflies in flight — kudos to you on your achievement.
Very nice captures Mike. Dragonflies in flight are very challenging and you photographed them so well. Kudos to you.
It would be hard to beat these photos. I was trying to get a shot of one of these perched on a stick yesterday and my camera just couldn’t find it with a grassy background.
Thanks, Allen. Alas, there is no magical formula for shooting these little creature. It required lots of luck, patience, and persistence. As Sue from Backyard Biology, it’s especially cool to see how they tuck in their legs when in flight.