I was hoping on Tuesday that this male Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge would land, but his stamina was impressive and I had to content myself with a couple of shots as he zoomed by overhead.
I missed focus on most of my shot attempts, but the first shot below turned out pretty well—I encourage you to click on the image to see some of the beautiful colors and details of this dragonfly.
Tracking the dragonfly visually and keeping it in the viewfinder is a real challenge. I was intrigued to see that my camera more or less held onto focus in the second shot, despite the fact that the dragonfly had flown closer to the foliage.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Great captures, Mike. Those guys are fast.
Thanks, Dan. Of course, I would like to get closer shots, but am actually quite happy when my hand-to-eye coordination works and I can track the moving dragonfly in the viewfinder. All too often, though, the flight path of the dragonfly is unpredictable and a bit erratic.
Not an easy task through the viewfinder, great capture!
Thanks. You have to be a little crazy to attempt these kinds of shots or at least be blessed with an amazing amount of patience and persistence. 🙂
And just a smidge of luck to top it off 😀
That’s exactly right. Luck plays a big role in the kind of photography that I do. I go out with my camera and never know what I will encounter and whether or not I will be able to capture an image of what I experience.