Whenever I see a dragonfly in flight when I am traipsing about with my camera, I can’t help but stop and try to get a photograph of the dragonfly in the air. My success rate in not high, but sometimes I am able to capture a good image as the dragonfly zooms by me.
In mid-June I spotted a Common Baskettail dragonfly (Epitheca cynosura) as it flew back and forth over the pond at Jackson Miles Wetland Refuge. During one of its passes I managed to freeze its motion in this shot. I like the way that you can see all four wings and also the distinctive markings on its body. The bluish-green eyes really “pop” and if you look really closely, you can see the that the dragonfly folds its legs under its thorax (the torso part of its body) while it is flying.
I returned yesterday from my five-day trip up to Massachusetts and Maine to deal with a family emergency. Hopefully I will be able to get out this week and capture some new images. It’s hard to believe that it is already July.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Wonderful photo, Mike. I clicked and looked at the details and was so glad you cued us to the folded legs, also liked the spectacular color and all four wings. Thank you.
Thanks, Jet. I always like to encourage viewers to look closely at the photos, but it is definitely most helpful when I give them some clues about what to look for. 🙂
Hope all will be well with your family situation.
We suffer from the same affliction. Flying dragons are an irresistible temptation to try and capture with our latest digital camera and incredibly proficient photographic technique.
Flying dragons are also quick to demonstrate how primitive are our modern cameras and how dismal my technique truly is.
But – a single image such as yours proves it CAN be done!
So I’ll keep trying.
Some viewers may not realize the difficulty of the task of capturing a dragonfly in flight, Wally, but I know that you do. Most of the time I can’t rely on my autofocus, so I will often focus manually. On some occasions the dragonfly will help out by hovering a bit, but a lot of the time I have to track the dragonfly while it is moving at full speed. Last year I did a little video for YouTube about photographing dragonflies in flight that I entitled “Impossible shots? Dragonflies in flight.” It’s not impossible, but it is pretty hard to capture a shot like this. Fortunately practice helps, especially in tracking the dragonfly through the viewfinder.
Wonderful capture Mike !
Thanks, John.