On 17 June I was really happy to photograph some Yellow-sided Skimmers (Libellula flavida) while exploring a pond in Prince William County with fellow blogger and dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford. This is a fairly uncommon species where I live and I have knowingly seen it only a couple of times previously. Yellow-sided Skimmers at certain stages of development look a lot like Needham’s Skimmers, a species that I encounter much more frequently, and I sometimes have trouble telling them apart.
As several readers have noted in commenting on the portraits of me that I have recently posted, the eyes and the smile are critical in capturing the personality of a subject. I think that is equally true for this stunning female Yellow-sided Skimmer. Her beautiful eyes and toothy grin convey a sense of warmth and friendliness—it was like she was happy to be posing for me.
If you would like to see Walter’s take on our encounter with the Yellow-sided Skimmers, check out his blog posting entitled Yellow-sided Skimmer (female, male). Walter included photos of both genders of this species along with additional information about its preferred habitat and its geographic range.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Beautiful, simple composition and glorious complementary colors and separation from background.
Thanks, Michael. I know from your own work that you are a huge fan of simple compositions and I think it worked pretty well for me in this image. Thanks for your descriptive explanation of what you liked about the image–I always welcome the chance to look at my work through the eyes of another.
Thank you, Mike. My taste hands toward the minimalistic and almost every thing I do and appreciate. But the obvious thing here is if what you’re trying to show us your subject, that everything else that’s not your subject, well, isn’t your subject. I tend to specialize in profound comments. 😉
This is another fine composition and capture, Mike!
Truly delightful photo, Mike, and I enjoyed your narrative too.
Thanks, Jet. I am never quite satisfied with posting just a photo and part of the fun is figuring out want to say about an image.
Very Nice Mike!!
[…] Two days later I returned to the same pond with fellow dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford and we spotted male and female Yellow-sided Skimmers, including the handsome male that is featured in the first photo. If you want more details of my adventures that day, including a shot of a female Yellow-sided Skimmer, check out my recent posting Yellow-sided Skimmer (female). […]