This has been a crazy year in so many different ways, including for dragonfly hunting. I post images almost every day, so I may provide the mistaken impression that I am out shooting every day. In fact, I have been staying at home a lot more and have been generally limiting my photography forays to a couple of times a week, supplemented by periodic trips to my neighbor’s garden to photograph flowers.
As a result, I have not seen some of “the usual suspects,” i.e. the dragonflies that I am used to seeing every year. I was quite excited when I spotted this female Painted Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula semifasciata) during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, because I had not seen this species this season. You may have noticed that I really like dragonflies with patterned wings—I think that those patterns at an extra dimension to their beauty.
Dragonflies tend to be distracted when they are eating, which sometimes lets me get a little closer for a photograph. You can’t help but notice that this Painted Skimmer is feeding on some kind of insect with a bright red body. It looks a little like some kind of wasp or similar insect, though I really am not sure what it is.
I had no idea that “The Usual Suspects” was the name of a 1995 movie starring Stephen Baldwin and Kevin Spacey, so folks of a younger generation may associate those words with that movie. For me, however, “the usual suspects” will forever be a reference to a line in Casablanca, my absolutely favorite movie. If you are unfamiliar with the movie and would like to see the full line “round up the usual suspects” in its original context or simply want to relive that movie moment, check out this short clip from YouTube.
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Mike Powell 
Love the colors. Looks like she’s holding on pretty tight.
I’m with you on “the usual suspects” – Casablanca.
Thanks, Dan. Eating without hands has to be a little tough. As for Casablanca, it may well be a generational thing–we are of similar ages, I seem to recall.
We are in that same age group. I used that expression throughout my career when analyzing technical problems. As with the movie, the usual suspects usually weren’t to blame.
Nice image Mike! Where we usually go to photograph dragonflies, they seem fairly scarce this year.
I am knocked out by this image. The crisp clarity of the dragonfly, contrasted with the wonderful loose background, overlaid by strong sunlight. Fabulous. I was blessed with LOTS of different dragonflies this summer. I couldn’t wait to get to my yard to see what was flying around every day.
Thanks, Melissa. I try to frame my shots to highlight the subject and I think it worked in this image. The background does not distract the viewer, but the different shapes and colors in the background add some visual interest that would be absent if it were a single solid color. I love the fact that you did not have to travel far to see lots of dragonflies. Generally I have to get in my car and drive a bit to get to a wildlife area to find my beloved dragonflies.
Me too. I’m not sure what was happening this summer. In other summers my rain garden never drains, so perhaps that would provide habitat for them, but this summer it was bone dry. I am, however, one of the few gardeners with a yard full of native plants on the block. With everyone spraying chemicals all summer ( 😦 ) perhaps my yard was a sanctuary.
Terrific photograph, Mike!
Another species I’ll have to travel a bit north to see.
Great movie, too!
Thanks, Wally. I always laugh a little when you talking about needing to come north to see certain species. I have a similar reaction when I see shots from Florida or from New England.
She’s beautiful, especially with her sharp crisply focused reds against a complementary soft green background.
Thanks, Michael. I appreciate your comments because they help me look at the image on its own merits, without thinking of the relative scarcity of the species or the circumstances under which the image was captured. The back story matters to some extent, but ultimately the image has to stand on its own.
I agree. In the final analysis it is the image that matters. But the story of how it came to be is always interesting and very often instructive. To me, any wildlife photography works best when it goes beyond specimen collection and into art. This is art. That takes considerably more work. Hence the backstory is important.
I absolutely agree with you about the value of the story and that is one of the reasons why I approach my blog the way that I do. When I first started my blog, I thought it would be simply a catalog of images, a way of displaying my photos to a different audience. It was not long before I discovered that I enjoyed expressing myself creatively in words as much (or more, sometimes) as in images. Most of the time I try to do more than document my subjects. Sometimes I will venture towards art, as so many of your images do, and other times I will lean towards storytelling.
And, of course, there is the art of storytelling which I think you pretty much have nailed.
Oh my goodness, Mike, this is incredible. Absolutely beautiful image, and fun to have such close-up range to see that she is eating something red. You have opened up the world of dragonflies to me, what a gift. As for the movies, both are great classics. Kevin Spacey was relatively unknown when he did The Usual Suspects. And of course Casablanca is a work of art. Cheers, my friend.
Thanks, Jet. I will have to check out The Usual Suspects. I am glad that you continue to enjoy my dragonfly photos. Sometimes I worry that I might be oversaturating my audience with images of dragonflies, but a number of people have commented, as you did, that I have helped them look at dragonflies differently and have encouraged me to keep posting them. It is an awesome thing to help to change the way that another person looks at the world–that is one of my main goals with my blog. If I can show people that there is beauty all around them, maybe they will start to notice that beauty on their own. I have always loved the quotation attributed to photographer Dorothea Lange, “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” I am always slightly amused when people ask me how I see the things that I do, and I try to refrain from giving the Zen-like response, “How is it that you do not?”
Nice shot, Mike. Looks like a wasp to me, too. I don’t think of them as prey, but I guess their stinger only works if they can sting!
I’m with you on Casablanca. Such a classic! We use often ‘the usual suspects’ in common language here as well.
Thanks, Elisa. Predator/prey is on a temporary designation, it seems. I am glad to hear how many folks like Casablanca–it truly is a classic. As for “the usual suspects,” it is a pleasant surprise to learn that its use is more widespread than I suspected. You never know when a phrase enters into common usage if it is merely regional or if it applies to an entire country or set of countries.
Love this photo, Mike.
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Thanks, Mitzy.
It’s well worth the double-click to do this one justice. And how could anyone who has seen Cacablanca not have been drawn in forever after? Play it again, Sam.
I feel the same way too about Casablanca, Gary, even as time goes by.
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We were at the Cincinnati Art Museums yesterday (with masks and social distancing). It was fairly deserted.There was a special exhibit entitled Women Breaking Boundaries. Painting there by Maria van Oosterwijck, entitled Flower Still Life. And suddenly there you were! Almost center of the painting was a dragonfly and on closer inspection 2 butterflies! I wanted to find a copy of it for you and then realized I do not know your email or snail mail address. Funny, how you follow me about and pop up in unexpected places. Have a great day. If you search her name and the painting title, it comes right up.
Thanks, Molly. I sent you an e-mail with my e-mail address. That painting is amazing. I love the way she integrated the insects and the flowers. I can actually identify one of the butterflies, though I can’t identify the species of the dragonfly–European species are generally different from US ones. What is crazy is that the painting was done in the 1600’s–I am certain that none of my photos will survive for 300+ years. 🙂
You never know!!
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Very nice image, Mike, with lunch and a lovely green mottled background!
I’ve always enjoyed Casablanca but didn’t remember the Usual Suspects line until I played that clip. Classic, indeed! I may have to hunt down the movie to watch soon.
Thanks, Ellen. I am glad you enjoyed the little movie clip. If I remember correctly, the “round up the usual suspects” was also used earlier in the movie when the letters of transit were first stolen. I am glad too that you enjoyed the image too. My 180mm macro lens really lets me get some nice backgrounds when I am able to get close enough to my subject.
About Casablanca.. I’d say it’s our favourite too! I say this because when we move house and eventually get the TV/DVD combo going again (it’s taken a long time to get around to sometimes) it always seems to be Casablanca that we choose to play first.. we always love it 🙂
“Play it again…” That is so cool to hear, Liz.
Mike, maybe you can help with a Dragonfly ID. Andy Finnegan posted images of what we think are a type of Hawker dragonfly which are common in the UK where Andy lives. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
https://sealandair67140807.wordpress.com/2020/09/15/swanwick-lakes/
To me this looks like a Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) at first glance, but I may have to dig a little deeper. A few years ago I photographed them while I was on a business trip to Brussels. Here is are links to two postings that I did (https://michaelqpowell.com/2018/09/07/migrant-hawker-in-flight/ and https://michaelqpowell.com/2018/09/04/migrant-hawker-dragonflies-in-brussels/ ) Do you think they are shots of the same species as in Andy’s photos?
Great detective work! Your images look like an exact match. How exciting to photograph a Dragonfly that you’ve never seen before. I think we can rule out the Southern Migrant, Southern Hawker and Common Hawker.
Thanks. My old job used to take me to Brussels, Belgium and Vienna, Austria a few times a year. After seeing the main tourist sights, I decided to scout out likely places for dragonflies and I was happy to find some of them. One of the other Hawker species we can rule out is the Norfolk Hawker that I spotted one time in Brussels, which is a completely different set of colors. (https://michaelqpowell.com/2018/06/04/green-eyed-hawker-in-brussels/).
I looked some more, David, and found there are several different hawkers in the UK that look similar, so I am very uncertain about making an identification–none of them are in North America, so they are all unfamiliar to me.