How do I find all of the different dragonflies that I feature on my blogs? I like to visit a variety of habitats starting early in the spring and going later into the autumn. When I am out in the wild with my camera, I try to move relatively slowly as my eyes scan the ground, the vegetation, and the air for indications of dragonflies. Most of the time I need movement for me to detect a dragonfly and track a dragonfly, but sometimes I am able to spot a perched dragonfly.
During a recent visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, I photographed two dragonflies that help to illustrate the importance of looking up as well as down when hunting for dragonflies. The male Widow Skimmer (Libellula luctuosa) in the first photo was perched low in some vegetation at the edge of a small pond. I watched the dragonfly fly to that perch, but my view was blocked by vegetation until I found a small visual tunnel that gave me a relatively clear view as I pointed my camera down at the dragonfly.
The male Great Blue Skimmer (Libellula vibrans) in the second photo, on the other hand, was perched high in the air in a field. Visually I had no trouble getting this shot as I pointed my camera toward the sky, but the ground was uneven and mucky and thorns were pricking my ankles as I composed the shot.
Down? Up? Straight ahead? My eyes are constantly moving when I am in target acquisition mode—that is one of the “secrets” of my dragonfly photography.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
The dark areas of the wings make him look bigger than I think he is.
That is so true. When the wings are totally transparent, as is the case with the majority of dragonflies, dragonflies can look pretty small because all you see is the body, but the wings seems to have more volume when they are patterned.
Beautiful Widow Skimmer. Last week I thought I saw common whitetail during my outing. But after reading your post, I just realized I was wrong. Both dragonflies have different black patch. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks. I have been photographing dragonflies pretty regularly for the last nine summers, so I have gotten pretty good at identifying most of the ones that I see. I love watching dragonflies flitting about, flying so freely through the air, even when I don’t know what kinds they are. There is always something magical to me about he sight of dragonflies.
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Nice Mike! Always enjoy seeing your dragonfly images!