Halloween Pennant dragonflies (Celithemis eponina) are among the most photogenic dragonflies that I am blessed to photograph. The way that they perch at the extreme tips of vegetation makes it relatively easy to separate them from the background and highlight the beautiful patterns of their wings. Often I am able to move relatively close and shoot upwards with the sky as the background, as in the second image, though at other times I enjoy including the green shades of vegetation instead.
I spotted this striking dragonfly, which I believe is a female Halloween Pennant, last Friday as I was exploring a field at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Unlike many dragonflies that are found at the edge of a pond or a marsh, the Halloween Pennants that I see are usually perched in the tall vegetation at the edge of fields away from the water.
My final photo was my attempt to see eye-to-eye with the dragonfly. I really like the unusual perspective in the resulting photo and the way that the angle of view causes the wings, which usually play a dominant role in photos of dragonflies, to almost disappear from view.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Very nice set, Mike! I like both the blue sky and the green backgrounds. The eye-to-eye shot is appealing, too, interesting to see the wings from different angles as well as that face.
Thanks, Ellen. I feel good about including all three images after reading your comments. I love being able to “work” a subject whenever I can to get different angles, backgrounds, etc.
Great shots Mike and a beautiful species !
Your comment about this kind of dragonfly perching at the extreme tips of vegetation has me wondering if there are species of dragonflies that don’t perch on tips of vegetation. That’s most often the kind of place where I see dragonflies of all types. I assume a high and unobstructed perch gives dragonflies an advantage in spotting prey (and perhaps predators as well).
There are a number of dragonflies species (particularly darners and emeralds) that hang vertically rather than perching horizontally). These tend to be species that hunt on the fly and perch when they are resting. (Here’s an example of a Common Green Darner (https://michaelqpowell.com/2021/04/28/common-green-darner-in-april/) and one of a Fine-lined Emerald (https://michaelqpowell.com/2019/09/08/first-fine-lined-emerald-dragonfly-of-2019/).) Many of the skimmer dragonflies that folks are accustomed to seeing during the summer tend to seek more stable branches or sticks on which to perch than the pennant species that flap about more because of the flimsiness of their preferred perches.
I’m glad you had the answer. Thanks.
You are welcome, Steve.
Very nice Mike, I really like the first image.
Thanks, Brian.
Wow Mike! Great series of Halloween Pennant images!!