I remember reading an article once with tips on photographing butterflies. The article suggested that you photograph only the butterflies in perfect condition, the ones with no signs of aging, no faded colors, and no tattered wings.
I personally don’t believe in following that advice. Life can be really tough for the tiny creatures that I like to photograph (and for us two-legged creatures too) and I don’t mind at all when my photographs capture the effects of some of life’s struggles. As some of my friends are fond of saying, we have earned our wrinkles.
This past weekend I visited Huntley Meadows Park, a local marshland park that used to be my absolute favorite place to take photographs. In some ways it is a victim of its own success. Lots of photographers now flock to the park to photograph the wildlife there. I prefer, however, for my wildlife viewing to be more of a solitary pursuit than a group activity, so increasingly I have been spending my time in other local spots.
While at the park I spotted this beautiful Painted Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula semifasciata). Its wings are a bit tattered and somehow it seems appropriate that its perch shows some spider webs. Yet I couldn’t help but feel how confidently this little dragonfly perched on the tip of the vegetation, boldly displaying its faded beauty to the world.
The composition is simple, as is the message—true beauty is not about perfection.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I love the color, especially in the wings.
After reading the post and enlarging the photo for Benjamin, he looked at me and said : “The dragonfly is getting old, but he’s still beautiful just like you Gem.” Mark Twain said : “Wrinkles should merely indicate where the smiles have been.” I must have smiled a lot. Photos should portray the realities of life too, yours do! We are off to look at the weekend posts. Thank-you, Mr. Mike!!
You and Benjamin just melted my heart, From the mouths of babes… Thanks for sharing.
It’s a lovely portrait and a great composition. I really like your attitude too. Just last week, an acquaintance referred to me as “brave” for being the only person she knows our age who does not colour their hair. One of those back-handed compliment type things. So I am with this wee minibeast in owning my scruffiness and scrappiness.
Thanks, Laura. For what it’s worth, I also don’t color my hair, though there is not much left anyways. Vanity is one of those traits that I personally have trouble understanding.
Nice shot again Mike, love seeing these US dragons.
I will do my best to keep them coming. I was thrilled during my recent trip to Brussels to get a taste of the European dragonflies, though not literally, of course.
🙂
What a glowing little beastie – its gorgeous! And I liked your message very much.
I didn’t quite intend to have the blog posting go in the direction that it did, but once I started to write, that’s the way my thoughts came out. By the way, Liz, I hope that you don’t mind that I re-posted your Predator and Prey posting on my blog and put a link to it in my Facebook account too.
Oh no Mike, not at all. I was of course delighted. I’d noticed some of the ‘views’ had been coming from Facebook so you’ve solved the mystery now of how that was coming about! All the best, Liz
I actually like seeing seeing the tattered wings of the dragon fly. It is life, perfection only happens for a short time…. and we probably all look a bit ragged!
I totally agree, Chris, though even the idea of “perfection” is at best subjective when it come to beauty.
Nice Mike! I agree with your comments! Both on “perfection” and “groups” of photographers! At my old home area I was known at certain areas and was cordial to them but always did my own shooting, ignoring most of them. Most of the time it was why are you photographing that! Or that seems stupid. Often they were not even photographing anything, just seeing who had the most expensive or newest equipment.
Nice capture and I agree about photographing the tattered you see along the way. Those are often better images to my eye than the perfect specimen. Too bad about your favorite spot becoming so popular. I don’t like being with large groups either and have seen too many times when the group influences bird behavior.
Some photographers really enjoy the camaraderie of shooting with others, but I prefer to commune with nature mostly by myself. Having others around sometimes helps in identifying potential subjects, but for me the down sides of shooting in a group outweigh the benefits.