Painted Skimmer in May

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Painted Skimmer in May

May 20, 2015 by Mike Powell

I can’t get over the beauty of the dragonflies, especially this early in the season. On Monday, I spotted this beautiful male Painted Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula semifasciata) at a tiny pool (which was really more like a puddle) at my local marshland park.

The colors and pattern of the wings make this species quite distinctive and pretty easy to identify. The striking beauty of the Painted Skimmer has also attracted the attention of several other photographers in this area.

I personally love to see how others choose to photograph similar subjects. If you want to see more beautiful images of Painted Skimmers, check out recent postings by Walter Sanford and Joel Eagle. Each of us was presented with a similar dragonfly in different circumstances and made a series of creative choices to produce our individual portraits of this almost magical creature.

Posted in Art, Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Libellula semifasciata, Painted Skimmer, Painted Skimmer dragonfly | 7 Comments

7 Responses

on May 20, 2015 at 6:08 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

Another perfect shot with nice wing detail and a beautiful background. I’ve seen one dragonfly this year but it was too far away to see what it was. I would think more would be appearing soon with the heat we’ve had.
- on May 20, 2015 at 7:01 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Allen. I am sure the dragonflies will soon be there in force. I love trying to capture images of dragonflies in a way that is artistic, but also has lots of details and my last two postings were relatively successful in that regard.
on May 20, 2015 at 6:30 am | Reply Jane

Beautiful shot! I also really enjoy watching dragonflies and was lucky enough to photograph a mating pair that landed on my hand recently. Unfortunately my technical skills are quite limited though.
- on May 20, 2015 at 7:02 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. It’s quite a challenge to photograph a dragonfly that has landed on you. I can recall bending in strange ways trying to accomplish that feat.
on May 20, 2015 at 7:03 am | Reply Beachbums1

Love this photo! I haven’t seen many dragonflies this spring ~ will have to pay closer attention.
on May 20, 2015 at 12:44 pm | Reply Painted Skimmer in May | Gaia Gazette

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on May 25, 2015 at 8:07 pm | Reply joeleagle

Thanks so much for the link Mike! You and Walter are good company, men who love the challenge of capturing nature’s beautiful creatures, both big, and especially small!