Do you have rainbows and unicorns in your life? Despite all of the recent rain, I haven’t seen a rainbow in a long time, but I did spot a unicorn last Saturday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, this beautiful Unicorn Clubtail dragonfly (Arigomphus villosipes).
It’s a little hard to tell from these shots, but Unicorn Clubtails have a little “horn” between their eyes that gives rise to the species’ common name. (If you want a view of the “horn,” check out this posting that I did in 2017.)
There is always a certain tension between isolating your subject in a photo and showing it in its natural surroundings. It’s a whole lot easier to focus on the perched dragonfly in the first image below, but I love the color and the texture of the green leaves in the second image and don’t find them to be distracting. Sometimes in life you have to choose and make an either/or decision, but I think that it is often best to leave the options open and let the viewers decide which images they prefer.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I get to see a fair few rainbows and love them. Not so many unicorns but I did come across a great one a couple of days ago – a tapestry from The Lady and the Unicorn series at https://mydreamgarden.com.au/2018/06/13/a-thousand-flowers-a-lady-and-a-unicorn/
Wow. Now that’s a unicorn!
After reading today’s post, I enlarged the first photo for Benjamin’s examination. He said : “Oh no, his wings have pieces missing! I hope he can still fly. I see his clubtail, and maybe a horn.” On the second enlarged photo, he said : “I think that is the horn in the middle of his green eyes.” Then we visited the past post and he viewed the enlarged photos. on the third photo he pointed and said : “There it is, a unicorn horn!” Thank-you, Mr. Mike!!
Thanks to both of you. Please reassure Benjamin that dragonflies (and butterflies) still fly amazingly well even when there wings are damaged and have pieces missing. I continue to be amazed at his sharp eyes and focus on the details of my photos and by the degree to which he retains information. Wow!
Oooh. Tough choice. I like both. The first image is more successful in terms of portraying the detail of the dragonfly but the second image is pleasing because of the way it places the dragonfly in its environment and the lovely green of the leaves.
Once again, Laura, I am amazed at the degree to which we see things in similar ways. We both tend to be drawn to artistic elements of the photos and not just the technical aspects of the capture of the subject. Photography has such an appeal for me because it is broad enough to be able to encompass both art and sciences, both the romantic and the realist.