Although it can be exciting to photograph uncommon dragonflies, I equally enjoy capturing images of the species that I see quite regularly, like these female Eastern Pondhawks (Erythemis simplicicollis) that I spotted during several trips last week to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Both the males and females of this species have beautiful emerald green faces and I especially like the look of the females (and immature males) with their green thoraxes and distinctively striped abdomens.
Whenever I see female Eastern Pondhawks like these a snippet of a song from my youth comes to mind that spoke of “the greens of summers.” You have to be of a certain age to remember Simon and Garfunkel singing the Paul Simon song “Kodachrome” that had a memorable chorus—you also have to pretty old to have actually used Kodachrome slide film. (If you have not heard the song, I encourage you to click on this link to a YouTube video from The Concert in Central Park in September 1981.)
“Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So Mama don’t take my Kodachrome away.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Wow that last one is SO green!
Indeed, Liz, some of the specimens that I see are a really bright green in color. In addition to the color of their bodies, I love their green eyes that often look like they are wearing cool sunglasses.
Well, I am old and Kodachrome 25 was my film of choice for its fine grain along with Vevia. You couldn’t beat either for rich color just like you can’t beat this Eastern Pondhawk for that beautiful green. 🙂
I suspect, Steve, that you not be the only seasoned veteran to reminisce about shooting slide film. I just did a quick check and was surprised to see that you can still purchase slide film, though I suspect that it would be a challenge to find a lab to process it.
Actually there still are several. Mpix, a national printhouse, also develops and there are a few local spots here. I used to have a darkroom which has been converted to a pantry/ second bathroom in our basement. Although repurposed, it is still windowless, has a sink, and if I chose to shoot film I could process the transparency film in there. There are still a lot of folks out there shooting film, especially large format. Here’s one I follow on YT whose channel I really enjoy and admire his work.
I watched the video that you linked, Steve, and I am impressed to see a photographer doing some serious hiking with an 8 x 10 view camera. I have always wondered what it would be like to shoot with sheet film and might eventually try it, though I doubt I would go above 4×5. I have some film in my refrigerator right now (35mm and 120) that I need to shoot–I think it is all black and white, which I can develop myself (and then probably scan). I have never tried to develop slide film.
Beautiful photograph, and yes, Kodachrome really did give me a nice bright colors.
Very colorful Mike! Great images!
Yup! I knew just what you meant by the greens of summer…;-). Your pics are great. I can’t seem to capture dragons very clearly when I try. Either they blend in with the background or wing details disappear. Am I correct in thinking that you back off from them a bit at first?
-Julie
Thanks. I use a 180mm macro lens, so I am relatively close the the dragonflies–the lens has no zoom capability, so I can’t get closer by zooming in. When I see a dragonfly perched, I will try to approach it slowly and then track it to its next perch if it flies away. I like to try to fill as much of the frame of my camera with the dragonfly. In terms of background, I usually choose a mid-range aperture like f/8 that gives me a fairly shallow depth of field, which means that the background will often be out of focus and sometimes even parts of the dragonfly. If a dragonfly perches in vegetation or on the ground, the background in the photo can be really cluttered. I am usually trying to isolated the dragonfly from the background when I am choosing a shooting angle.
Thanks so much for that info. I will be using it, as dragonflies are everywhere lately!
-Julie
Great captures, Mike, and song reference! I really like your first image— the composition with that grass seed head and the colors come together nicely.
Thanks. That first one is my favorite of the bunch for the very reasons that you listed. As for the song, I love a lot of the Simon and Garfunkel songs–they were part of the soundtrack of some of my formative years.