I can’t help myself. Whenever I see dragonflies flying over the water, I feel compelled to try to photograph them in flight. This past weekend I spotted several Common Baskettail dragonflies (Epitheca cynosura) flying patrols over a small pond in Orkney Springs, Virginia. The dragonflies flew by numerous times, giving me a lot of opportunities to take shots.
As is usually the case, most of my shots were out of focus or included only a portion of the dragonfly at the edge of the frame. However, as most of you know, I am quite persistent and eventually I managed to get some decent shots of the dragonflies.
Several of my sharpest shots show the dragonfly against a gray background, but lack a sense of the environment. The last three shots include patches of algae and give you a really cool perspective that reminds me of the view that you get from an airplane window when you look out and see another airplane along with the ground below.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
How cool to see them in flight, Mike!
Thanks so much. I remember the first time I saw photos of dragonflies in flight and wanted to be able to get shots like that. They are about the toughest shots that I try to take, but I enjoy the challenge.
You’re welcome! A victory!!
Amazing that you get any photo at all, considering how fast dragonflies are, Mike. I love those last three and they certainly do look like helicopters with the land below.
Thanks for your kind words, Jet. It takes a some practice to develop the hand-to-eye coordination needed to track dragonflies with a camera when they are flying. Focusing is a huge issue too because most cameras, including mine, cannot focus fast enough when the subject is filling such a small portion of the frame. Although I am tempted to isolate a subject from the background as much as I can, those last three photos show how helpful it can be to include some of the environment to give the photos some context.