How close can you get to a dragonfly when trying to photograph it? As with most things in life, the vexing answer is that “it depends.” In my experience, some dragonfly species tend to be more skittish than others and will fly away for good at the first indication of your presence. Other species will fly away, but return to the same perch a short time later. Occasionally I will encounter a dragonfly that remains in place and permits me to get as close as I want, although I still have to pay close attention to where I place my feet, so that I do not disturb its perch, and to the location of the sun, so that I do not cast my shadow on the dragonfly.
Last Saturday I went hunting for dragonflies with my friend and fellow dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford at a remote location in Fairfax County, Virginia, the county in which we live. Under normal circumstances, we probably would have made multiple excursions together by this time of the year, but this was our first trip of the season.
The first dragonfly that we encountered was a female Ashy Clubtail dragonfly (Phanogomphus lividus) and she proved to be remarkably cooperative. Why? I think that the dragonfly was a little distracted because she was in the process of consuming a cranefly. In some of my photos I could see remnants of the legs, wings, and other body parts of the victim.
The three photos show in inverse chronological order how I started out photographing the entire body of the dragonfly and them moved in closer and closer. Each of shows some pretty remarkable details of the dragonfly’s anatomy and it is definitely worth clicking on them to get a better look. For example, the third photo shows the beautiful coloration of the body; the second shot shows the spines on the legs and the hook-like tips of the feet; and the first image draws your attention to the dragonfly’s amazing compound eyes.
I took all of the photos below handheld with my Canon 50D DSLR and Tamron 180mm macro lens. My partner in this adventure used totally different gear and his approach to capturing images was definitely not the same as mine. In the past Walter and I have done companion postings on our respective blogs when we have taken photos together and we decided to continue the tradition.
Walter and I have different backgrounds, writing styles, and shooting styles and it has always been fascinating to contrast our “takes.” Even though we were shooting the same subject under the same conditions, I can almost guarantee that the images we post will be quite different. Be sure to check out Walter’s blog at waltersanford.wordpress.com for all kinds of wonderful postings, mostly about dragonflies.
I will include a link to his posting on our encounter with this Ashy Clubtail dragonfly after I publish this posting—I have not yet seen how he described our adventures.
UPDATE: Here, as promised, is a link to Walter’s posting about our encounter with this female Ashy Clubtail dragonfly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Fabulous photos! Yes, there seem to be some dragonflies that will sit and don’t care how much you move around them.
Wow, I am not into dragon flies as you are but that close up of the face is amazing. So interesting. Thank you again
Thanks, Ann. I really appreciate your comments. When I am writing my postings, I really make an effort to make them interesting enough for a wide audience and not just for specialists. There is a lot of beauty in nature that many people don’t know exists and I like to try to showcase some of that beauty.
The close-up of the face, especially, is amazing.
That must have been a wonderful trip out, Mike. These are stunning macros. Love the details you have captured. I find dragonflies can be quite accomodating, and at times they just fly off, and if you are not careful you can spend time chasing after them!
I think they like you, Mike. “No need to move, that’s Mike. He just wants to make us famous.”
Wow! Amazing details.
Very Nice series of images Mike! Enjoyed seeing them!
What big eyes he has!!
The better to see you. 🙂 Seriously, though, dragonflies have amazing eyes with up to 30,000 facets that help them to see incredibly well, including being able to see colors that are beyond human visual capabilities.
Excellent shots!
[…] “Ashy Clubtail Close-ups” features photos of the same subject shot by Michael Powell: Mike used a DSLR and macro lens to take his photos; I used a mirrorless superzoom bridge camera to take mine. […]
Excellent photos, Mike! It’s always interesting to see the same subject from different viewpoints. Thanks for sharing a link to my blog post; I just returned the favor.
Thanks, Walter. I was not sure how you were going to present your photos, so I decided to go with you suggestion to highlight my macro shots. It was cool as always to present complementary postings.
She’s a real beauty, Mike, and it’s very cool that you were able to take advantage of her culinary distraction, (though the cranefly probably has (or rather had) a rather different perspective on the occasion. The widest shot really showcases her striking markings. Another new one for me, thanks!
Thanks, Gary. I chose to emphasize the macro shots because I knew that my friend, with whom I was doing the complementary postings, had exclusively wider shots. You almost have to go looking for this particular dragonfly species, because most of the time it perches on the ground and is not as visible as those that perch high on the highest stalks and branches at water’s edge.