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Walk lightly

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, autumn, Autumn Meadowhawk, Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Sympetrum vicinum, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on November 23, 2015| 3 Comments »

Some folks might be surprised to learn that I continue to spot dragonflies, despite the cooler weather of late November. Autumn Meadowhawks (Sympetrum vicinum) are a particularly hardy species and in past years I have observed these tiny red beauties into December.

One of the challenges for the Autumn Meadowhawks is to warm up and I have noticed that they sometimes like to perch on one particular sign at Huntley Meadows Park, the county-run marshland park where I take many of my photos. The sign is angled to make it easier for viewers to read, making it perfect for a basking dragonfly.

In this image I was able to capture a favorite portion of the text on that sign and a cooperative Autumn Meadowhawk added a useful accent to the message. The last sentence sums up pretty well my view of nature and my aspiration during my visits to walk lightly.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Say hello to my little friends!

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Autumn Meadowhawk, Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Sympetrum vicinum, Walter Sanford on November 21, 2015| 1 Comment »

I am not particularly fond of mosquitoes and flies landing on me, but I love it when a colorful dragonfly chooses to do so. Autumn Meadowhawks are especially friendly in this regard and my friend Walter Sanford captured some fun images of these little red beauties that had landed on different parts of his body (and even included a few photos I took of him with his little friends). Check out his posting!

walter sanford's photoblog

The Autumn Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum vicinum) were especially “friendly” during a recent visit to Huntley Meadows Park, landing on me frequently as Michael Powell and I were searching for Great Spreadwing damselflies (Archilestes grandis).

My Photos

The following individual is a male, perching on the leg of my Columbia convertible pants. Regular readers of my photoblog know I’m especially fond of head-tilts in which the dragonfly seems to display some of its personality. Like this guy, who I imagine is thinking “What are you looking at? That’s right pal, I’m perching on your pants!”

11 NOV 2015 | Huntley Meadows Park | Autumn Meadowhawk (male)

The next photo shows two individuals perching on my pants, both females, as indicated by their coloration and terminal appendages.

11 NOV 2015 | Huntley Meadows Park | Autumn Meadowhawk (male)

The last individual is another female. I shot this photo…

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Final fall farewell

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Archilestes grandis, Canon 50D, Great Spreadwing, Great Spreadwing damselfly, Huntley Meadows Park, O, Tamron 180mm macro lens on November 13, 2015| 8 Comments »

Over the last month I have developed an unhealthy obsession with the Great Spreadwing damselfly (Archilestes grandis)—I think that I have turned into a stalker.

Normally I am a walker, not a stalker. I like to keep in motion, opportunistically scanning for new and different subjects to photograph. Increasingly, however, I have been spending endless hours at the same location, waiting and hoping that I will get yet another glimpse of a Great Spreadwing damselfly.

My friend and fellow fanatic Walter Sanford and I have been closely monitoring this one location, documenting in our photos the continued presence of these beautiful creatures and establishing new records for the latest date that they have been spotted in our area. It’s become harder and harder to find one of them and their population has shrunk to the point that there may be only one damselfly remaining.

That certainly seemed to be the case on 11 November (Veterans Day/Armistice Day), when for the first time this season, Walter and I hunted together for a Great Spreadwing. We have a friendly rivalry and push each other, but on this day it was complete cooperation as we searched for hours, uncertain if there were any survivors. Check out Walter’s blog posting today for an engaging narrative and wonderful photos of our adventures that day, which ultimately turned out to be successful in spotting a Great Spreadwing damselfly.

I too managed to get a few photos, although it was tough to frame a shot, because the damselfly perched in the almost knee-high vegetation and I couldn’t move much from my crouching position for fear of scaring it away. I was shooting with my 180mm macro lens, so zooming from a greater distance was not an option.

Is this the final fall farewell? Are my days as a stalker coming to an end? When is it time to call it quits on a relationship?

The weather has turned cooler again and conditions continue to grow increasingly inhospitable. These may well be the last shots I get of a Great Spreadwing damselfly this season.

However, I’m heading out to the park in a short while and suspect that I will be drawn back inexorably to the damselfly’s habitat.

It’s so hard to say goodbye.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Last man standing?

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Archilestes grandis, Great Spreadwing, Great Spreadwing damselfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Walter Sanford on November 13, 2015| 1 Comment »

Check out today’s posting by my good friend and fellow photographer Walter Sanford for a compelling narrative and wonderful photos of our newest adventures searching for the Great Spreadwing damselfly.

walter sanford's photoblog

It was my honor to spend Veterans Day with my good friend and photowalking buddy Major Michael Powell, U.S. Army, Retired. We were men on a mission: Searching for Great Spreadwing damselflies (Archilestes grandis), in the hope of extending the “official” late-date for this species in Virginia. Mission accomplished, but it wasn’t easy — the operation was unsuccessful until we called in an “air strike!”

Since 06 October 2015, Mike and I have been frequently monitoring the Great Spreadwing damselflies that inhabit a small permanent pond and surrounding fields at a remote location in Huntley Meadows Park.

On 11 November, Mike and I spent several hours intensively searching for our quarry; no luck. A little after 1:00 p.m., we were standing near the pond watching a lone Shadow Darner dragonfly (Aeshna umbrosa) aggressively hawking smaller odonates perching around the perimeter of the pond: the darner dipped into…

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Pushing the limit

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Archilestes grandis, Canon 50D, Great Spreadwing, Great Spreadwing damselfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 180mm macro lens on November 7, 2015| 14 Comments »

Do you keep returning to the same places over and over again to take photos of the same subjects? For the last month or so, I have been going back repeatedly to a small pool of water in a secluded part of my favorite park, hoping to get another glimpse of a spectacular Great Spreadwing damselfly (Archilestis grandis).

Their numbers seem to have dwindled and it is possible that there is only a single damselfly of this species remaining. Yesterday, I watched and waited for quite some time before I was finally able to spot a male Great Spreadwing and it took several mini-encounters before I was able to get a decent photograph of the damselfly.

All of the female damselflies of this species seem to have disappeared several weeks ago, so it seems that any hopes he harbors for mating may be in vain. Indeed, the clock is definitely ticking for him—this species has never before been documented in Virginia this late in November.

I am cheering for this survivor and will try to find him again later this weekend. Despite my hopeful attitude, however, I can’t help but remember that yesterday I observed a large Shadow Darner dragonfly (Aeshna umbrosa) patrolling the pool and periodically chasing the damselfly, hoping to turn him into the main course of his lunch.

I’ve included two very different images of yesterday’s damselfly. The first shot is one that I framed very carefully, trying to get as parallel as I could with the damselfly and focusing manually. I like the way that it shows so many of beautiful details of the damselfly’s body. When I took the second shot, I was facing almost directly into the sun and I hurriedly played with camera settings to try to ensure that I did not get a mere silhouette. I really liked the way the sunlight was coming through the outstretched wings and used my camera’s pop-up flash to add a little light to the damselfly’s underside.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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To everything there is a season

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Libellula pulchella, Pete Seeger, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, The Byrds, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly on November 6, 2015| 5 Comments »

Growing up in the 1960’s, I remember well The Byrds folk-rock version of the song Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season), a Pete Seeger song with lyrics adapted almost word-for-word from Chapter 3 of the Biblical Book of Ecclesiastes. (If you have never heard The Byrds version of this song, here’s a link to a YouTube video of a performance.)

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”

According to statistical records, the season of the boldly-patterned Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula pulchella) in my area ended in early to mid-October. I was therefore shocked last Friday, 30 October, when I spotted a beautiful male Twelve-spotted Skimmer flying about in a field at Huntley Meadows Park.

I sometimes have trouble identifying species, but the wing patterns of this species are so distinctive that I knew exactly what it was, so I chased it around for a little while until I was able to get some shots of it. When I posted this photo on the Facebook page of Northeast Odonata, several members of the group commented on the “fresh” and undamaged condition of the dragonfly.

Statistics only get you so far, especially when looking at individuals. This dragonfly beat the odds and is a survivor—his personal “season” is off of the charts.

Like this dragonfly, we all have personal “seasons.” The dragonfly’s unexpected appearance brought to mind the words of a pastor at a funeral I attended earlier this year, who poignantly remarked that “we all come with expiration dates.” That reminder continues to challenge me as I think about how I should live my life.

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Farewell to a familiar friend?

Posted in Dragonflies, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Enallagma civile, Familiar Bluet, Familiar Bluet damselfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 180mm macro lens on November 2, 2015| 4 Comments »

A bittersweet feeling at times envelops me at this time of the year as I photograph some summer species, never knowing for sure if it will be the last time I see them until next year.

This past Friday I spotted a tiny female Familiar Bluet damselfly (Enallagma civile), a species that I haven’t seen in months. I had almost forgotten how small these damselflies are, about 1.1 to 1.5 inches (29-39mm) in total length. Despite their diminutive size, they have wonderful colors and markings and I was thrilled to be able to be able to capture some of that beauty with my macro lens.

Will I see another Familiar Bluet? I will keep looking in familiar places, hoping for yet another rendezvous, for one more chance for a final farewell.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Dragonfly on leg

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Autumn Meadowhawk, Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Sympetrum vicinum, Tamron 180mm macro on November 1, 2015| 8 Comments »

What do you do when a dragonfly lands on you? My first reaction, of course, was to take a photo when this Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum) landed on my leg on Friday.

The good news was that I had a macro lens on my camera, so I knew that I would be able to focus on the dragonfly. The bad news was that it was a 180mm macro lens, so I had to go through acrobatic contortions to try to achieve enough distance to fit the entire dragonfly into the frame. I also had to move like a ninja to keep from scaring away my subject.

In the end, I managed to get a decent shot of the dragonfly by standing as tall as I could and shooting straight downward, although my gray sweatshirt billowed out a bit and obscured the view of the dragonfly’s feet. For those of you who are not familiar with Autumn Meadowhawks, they are small dragonflies with bodies about an inch or so in length (25mm).

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Distinctive damselflies

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Archilestes grandis, Canon 50D, damselflies, Great Spreadwing, Great Spreadwing damselfly, Huntley Meadows Park, So, Tamron 180mm macro lens on October 24, 2015| 14 Comments »

Some of the damselfly species that I pursue are present in such limited numbers and in so well-defined areas that it is sometimes possible after time to recognize individual damselflies by their distinctive physical characteristics.

Earlier this month I was really excited when I spotted some Great Spreadwing damselflies (Archilestes grandis) after a tip from fellow dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford. I visited the location where he had seen them a few times and was able to get some good photos, which I included in several blog postings.

My efforts, though, pale in comparison with Walter’s—he virtually staked out that location and came to know some of the damselflies there so well that he gave them nicknames. In messages to me, Walter noted he had named two of his favorites “Mr. Magoo” and “Bendy Straw.” Check out Walter’s blog posting today for some wonderful images of these two damselfly celebrities.

As I reviewed my images of Great Spreadwings, I noticed that one of them had a peculiar bend near the end of his abdomen. Could this possibly be “Bendy Straw?” Walter and I were never at that location at the same time, so it seemed unlikely that I had seen one of “his” damselflies. After I sent him a copy of the image, he confirmed that I had in fact photographed “Bendy Straw.”

As I continued examining my images, another damselfly stood out, because he had only five legs. It looked like one of his back legs had been completely severed, leaving a small stump. How could something like this have happened? I am used to seeing dragonflies with tattered wings, but an injury like this seems to be of a completely different nature.

I usually try to identify the species of my subjects, but both of these damselflies help to remind me that I am not photographing species—I am photographing individuals. Each of those individuals has distinctive characteristics and has its own life story.

Somehow that seems to be a useful reminder and gives me a sense of perspective about what I am doing as a nature photographer.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Another new species of spreadwing damselfly?

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Huntley Meadows Park, Lestes forcipatus, Sweetflag Spreadwing, Sweetflag Spreadwing damselfly on October 18, 2015| 7 Comments »

Although it is October, my good friend and fellow photographer Walter Sanford continues to discover new species of damselflies in my favorite marshland park. Check out his posting (and his site) for some awesome images of his newest find.

walter sanford's photoblog

I’m fairly certain I discovered a new species of damselfly at Huntley Meadows Park (HMP): Sweetflag Spreadwing damselfly (Lestes forcipatus).

15 OCT 2015 | HMP | Sweetflag Spreadwing (male)

This individual is a male, as indicated by its hamules and terminal appendages.

15 OCT 2015 | HMP | Sweetflag Spreadwing (male)

(See a full-size version of the preceding photo, without annotation.)

The hamules are key field markers for differentiating some species of similar-looking damselflies, such as Southern Spreadwing (Lestes australis) and Sweetflag Spreadwing (Lestes forcipatus).

All male damselflies have four terminal appendages, collectively called “claspers.” Male damselfly terminal appendages don’t look exactly the same for all species of damselflies, but their function is identical.

15 OCT 2015 | HMP | Sweetflag Spreadwing (male)

(See a full-size version of the preceding photo, without annotation.)

Claspers are used to grab and hold female damselflies…

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Art or pornography?

Posted in Art, Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Archilestes grandis, Canon 50D, damselflies mating, Great Spreadwing, Great Spreadwing damselfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 180mm macro lens on October 14, 2015| 10 Comments »

How do you feel when confronted with a graphic image of mating damselflies? Are you shocked, offended, fascinated, or intrigued? Is it art or is it pornography?

I couldn’t help but feel a little bit like a voyeur as I crept closer and closer on Monday to the mating Great Spreadwing damselflies (Archilestes grandis) with my macro lens. As I prepared the photos for this posting, it seemed like I had extracted a couple of pages from the Damselfly Kama Sutra. What exactly were they doing as they assumed more and more acrobatic positions? It was like watching an R-rated (or maybe X-rated) Cirque du Soleil performance.

Art or pornography? Sometime in the distant past I remember studying a Supreme Court case in which attempts were made to define obscenity. With the help of Wikipedia, I refreshed my memory. It was a 1964 case and Justice Potter Stewart wrote some words that have become a guideline for assessing a given piece of work:

“I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [“hard-core pornography”], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it…”

So that’s it, “I know it when I see it.”

I’ll boldly contend that my photos are art. I am glad, however, that I am not a parent who has to respond to a young child’s curious question about what these damselflies are doing. The birds and the bees are simple to explain by comparison. With damselflies, I think the Facebook expression fits—”it’s complicated.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Great Spreadwing damselfly (male)

Posted in Art, Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, tagged Alexandria VA, Archilestes grandis, Canon 50D, Great Spreadwing, Great Spreadwing damselfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 180mm macro lens on October 12, 2015| 7 Comments »

I just love the beautiful blue eyes and distinctive markings of the male Great Spreadwing damselfly (Archilestes grandis) and I was thrilled when I spotted one on Saturday at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, Virginia.

I wonder if it damages this little guy’s self-esteem to be called a “damsel?” Perhaps he looks with envy at his odonate brethren with the more macho-sounding “dragon” in their names. Do we need a more gender-neutral name for damselflies?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Great Spreadwing damselfly (female)

Posted in Dragonflies, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Archilestes grandis, Canon 50D, Great Spreadwing, Great Spreadwing damselfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 180mm macro lens on October 11, 2015| 8 Comments »

What’s the largest damselfly in North American? According to Dennis Paulson, in his wonderful book, Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East, that title goes to the Great Spreadwing damselfly (Archilestes grandis), which is more than two inches (5 cm) in length, i.e. bigger than many of the dragonflies that I so frequently chase.

My good friend and local dragonfly expert Walter Sanford spotted a male Great Spreadwing this past week and posted a photo of it and yesterday I felt inspired to try to find one myself. He had provided me the general location at Huntley Meadows Park, my favorite local place for nature photography, and I patiently searched near the water, in the tall vegetation, and under the trees for almost two hours.

As my patience was starting to wear thin, I finally spotted one. The Great Spreadwing damselflies have a yellow racing stripe on their thorax and are quite distinctive, in addition to their size. I took some initial shots with my big zoom lens and then switched quickly to my 180mm macro lens.

The first Great Spreadwing I spotted was a male, but eventually I spotted a female and a pair of them in the tandem position. I am still going through my shots, but wanted to post a couple initially. I will probably post some more images in another posting or two.

The first shot shows a female Great Spreadwing damselfly—you can tell from her coloration and her terminal appendages. She let me take quite a few photos and returned to nearby vegetation a couple of times when she was spooked. The second image is a close-up that shows her beautiful eyes and her blue upper lips, which I think technically are called labrum.

Perhaps blue lips are the new fashion craze for the autumn. I’ll look around and see if any of the young ladies in the Washington D.C. area are sporting this look.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Common Green Darner

Posted in Dragonflies, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Anax junius, Canon 50D, Common Green Darner, Common Green Darner dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on October 1, 2015| 6 Comments »

I have been seeing Common Green Darner dragonflies (Anax junius) hunting high over the fields the last couple of weeks as they prepare for migration, but have not been able to get any shots of them. In theory, they are easier to photograph when they land, but these dragonflies like to hang vertically low to the ground, often in areas with heavy vegetation. I have been repeated frustrated by spotting them only after they have taken to the air as I got close to them.

This past Friday, though, I saw one land nearby when I was already in a field of waist-high vegetation. Judging from the blue abdomen, it’s a male Common Green Darner. I was struck by the relatively dark color of much of the abdomen of this particular individual. When doing a little research at my favorite website for local dragonflies, dragonfliesnva.com, I learned that Common Green Darners deal with the problem of cool weather “by having dark-colored platelets in their blood that rise to the surface when it’s cold, darkening their abdomen color, therefore attracting more sun. On bright, hot days, those dark platelets sink, and the abdomen turns bright bluagain, now reflecting light.”

The dragonfly was surrounded by dried vegetation and there was no way that I could get an uncluttered background for my shots. Fortunately, however, the the colors of the vegetation are so muted that the gorgeous blue and green of the dragonfly really stand out. In the first shot, I zoomed all the way to try to capture the maximum amount of detail, while in the second shot I pulled back a little on the zoom to capture the dragonfly’s entire wingspan.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Autumn love

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, tagged Alexandria VA, Big Bluet, Canon 50D, Enallagma civile, Enallagma durum, Familiar Bluet, Huntley Meadows Park, mating damselflies, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on September 30, 2015| 15 Comments »

We usually think of springtime as the season of love, but apparently autumn is also a good season if you are a damselfly. I don’t know what was so special about this one plant sticking out of the water, but mating damselfly couples seemed to be competing for a spot to land and deposit their eggs on it this past Monday at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, Virginia.

I’m no expert when it comes to identifying damselflies, in part because so many different species have similar patterns of black and blue, but I think these couples, all in the tandem position, may be Big Bluets (Enallagma durum). I’d welcome any corrections or confirmation of my initial identification.

UPDATE: My local odonate expert, Walter Sanford, weighed in with a correction to my identification—these damselflies are Familiar Bluets (Enallagma civile), not Great Bluets. When it comes to my initial identification, you might say that I blew it.

For those who might be curious about the technical aspects of the photo, I took this with my Canon 50D at 600mm on my Tamron 150-600mm lens, which is the equivalent of 960mm when you take into account the crop sensor of my camera. I continue to be pleased with the amount of detail that I can capture with the relatively affordable long lens, even when it’s extended to its maximum length. If you click on the image, you can see even more of those wonderful details.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Roseate Skimmer dragonfly (male)

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Huntley Meadows Park, Orthemis ferruginea, Roseate Skimmer on September 26, 2015| 8 Comments »

A pink dragonfly? Fellow photographer and good friend Walter Sanford was not hallucinating when he recently spotted this Roseate Skimmer dragonfly at Huntley Meadows Park, one of only a small handful of sightings ever of this species in Virginia.

He spotted one last year too, but this year managed to capture a wonderful series of images of this beauty. Be sure to check out his original posting as well as other spectacular images on his blog.

walter sanford's photoblog

Breaking news: I discovered a new species of dragonfly at Huntley Meadows Park — a Roseate Skimmer dragonfly (Orthemis ferruginea). This is the first official record of Orthemis ferruginea in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Actually, I discovered this species last year but was unable to shoot a photo to prove I wasn’t hallucinating pink dragonflies! On 10 September 2014, I spotted a male Roseate Skimmer that made one patrol around a pool near an old beaver lodge (one that overlapped the boardwalk that goes through the central wetland area), landed for one second (no kidding) and flew upstream along Barnyard Run; I never saw it again. This year, I have photographic proof.

This individual is a male, as indicated by its coloration and terminal appendages.

23 SEP 2015 | Huntley Meadows Park | Roseate Skimmer (male)

Dig that crazy metallic purple face!

23 SEP 2015 | Huntley Meadows Park | Roseate…

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Memories of the way we were

Posted in Autumn, Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, An, autumn, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Libellula pulchella, memories, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly on September 24, 2015| 5 Comments »

The autumnal equinox arrived yesterday, marking another change of seasons. I love the autumn, but there is something a little wistful about it, as so many of the bright summer colors begin to fade and the leaves dry out and fall off of the trees. Somehow for me it is a reminder of the inexorable passage of time and of the fragility of life.

Earlier this week I saw a faded male Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula pulchella) that put me in a pensive mood, remembering how this boldly-patterned species really stood out in the spring. Now he has has almost become a part of the background, less notable, less distinctive, less likely to attract attention.

How many of us are like that? Our society worships youthful beauty and older people are often pushed out of the spotlight in favor of unblemished youths. It’s nice to have memories of the way we were, remembering our youthful beauty and capabilities, but I think it’s important to celebrate who we are and who we are becoming.

So here’s a look at that male Twelve-spotted Skimmer and a female Twelve-Spotted Skimmer that I observed last week. Wouldn’t you agree that they are still beautiful despite (or perhaps because of) their senior citizen status.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Shadow Darner

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Aeshna umbrosa, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Shadow Darner, Shadow Darner dragonfly, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on September 22, 2015| 21 Comments »

What’s your most challenging subject as a photographer? Do you chase the perfect lighting for your landscape photos or pursue the decisive moment in your street shots or wait endlessly for an elusive creature to appear?

At least several times a year, I will attempt to photograph dragonflies in flight. Dragonflies are small, fast, and agile. Some of them seem utterly unpredictable and almost impossible to track or fly high in the air, out of range of even long telephoto lenses.

What’s an ideal scenario? In the best of all worlds, I would like to find a dragonfly that flies a repeated route, such as patrolling a portion of a stream, and periodically hovers at my eye level or below.

Yesterday I spotted a dragonfly as I was following a stream in a remote part of my favorite marshland park. The dragonfly would hover for a while and then move a short distance away and hover again.

I was pretty excited as I put my camera to my eye and tried to find the dragonfly in the viewfinder. With my zoom lens extended to 600mm, it’s a little like looking through a straw—there is a pretty limited field of view. I set my focus to manual mode, having learned in the past that it is almost impossible for me to gain and hold focus on small moving subjects in auto mode. One of the challenges of the Tamron 150-600mm lens is that the focus ring is at the back of the lens near the lens mount, which means that it is tough to hold the lens steady and focus manually.

The dragonfly was cooperative and gave me a number of chances before it flew away. When the magical moments ended, I looked at a few of my images on the back of my camera and couldn’t immediately identify the dragonfly. Initially I thought it was a Mocha Emerald, like the one that I seen near that same location earlier in September, but the coloration and body shape was all wrong. Once I got home, I did a little research and figured out that I had photographed a Shadow Darner (Aeshna umbrosa), a call confirmed by local dragonfly expert Walter Sanford.

I am pretty happy with these shots. I know that I was lucky to see this dragonfly, but I also know that the hours and hours that I have spent shooting with this camera and lens helped me to take advantage of the situation. A combination of luck, patience, and a bit of skill—it sounds like a good recipe for handling your most challenging subjects as a photographer.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Tattered survivor

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Portraits, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Great Blue Skimmer, Great Blue Skimmer dragonfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Libellula vibrans, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on September 20, 2015| 19 Comments »

How was your summer? Did you take a vacation and relax or at least take some time off from work?

There are no vacations for dragonflies. It looks like this has been a long, hard summer for the male Great Blue Skimmer (Libellula vibrans) that I spotted earlier this month, judging from the almost shredded condition of his wings. Yet somehow, he is still able to fly and continues to survive

Autumn is almost upon us and the number of dragonflies that I observe is dropping. Before long, only a few hardy species will remain. For now, I take joy in seeing the tattered survivors, whose beauty is undiminished in my eyes.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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You keep me hangin’ on

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Mocha Emerald, Mocha Emerald dragonfly, Somatochlora linearis, Supremes, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, you keep me hangin' on on September 19, 2015| 7 Comments »

Yesterday I spotted this male Mocha Emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora linearis) while exploring one of the streams at Huntley Meadows Park and was struck again by the way this species perches vertically, rather than horizontally like so many of the other dragonflies that I see.

The words of the old Supremes song come to mind, “You keep me hangin’ on…” and now that song is stuck in my head. On the off chance that one of my readers has never heard that song (and I can’t believe that is possible), here’s a link to a really old video of the Supremes performing the song.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mocha Emerald in September

Posted in Art, Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Mocha Emerald, Mocha Emerald dragonfly, Somatochlora linearis, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on September 15, 2015| 7 Comments »

Unlike Pumpkin Spice, Mocha Emerald is not a fall Starbucks flavor—it is a cool-looking dragonfly species that I was excited to spot yesterday at my favorite marshland park.

Every other time that I have observed a Mocha Emerald (Somatochlora linearis), the dragonfly has been perched in the shadows, so I was surprised yesterday to see one in full daylight. This Mocha Emerald, which looks to be a male seemed to be patrolling a stretch of a small stream. Occasionally it would stop to rest and perch vertically on vegetation sticking out low from the bank of the stream.

Getting a decent shot of the Mocha Emerald was quite a challenge. My camera’s auto focus had trouble fixing focus on the dragonfly’s long thin body so I had to focus manually; there was a breeze that was blowing that caused the dragonfly to swing in and out of my field of view as I looked through the viewfinder; and the background tended to be really cluttered.

The first shot is my favorite, because I was able to isolate the dragonfly by hanging over the stream (and almost falling in), although the other shots show some of the details of its body better.

Maybe there should be a Mocha Emerald latte, perhaps for Saint Patrick’s Day—I would be thrilled if it supplanted the green beer that still makes an appearance at some locations.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Baby’s got blue eyes

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, tagged Alexandria VA, blue eyes, Blue-faced Meadowhawk, Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly, Canon 50D, Elton John, Huntley Meadows Park, Sympetrum ambiguum, Tamron 180mm macro lens on September 13, 2015| 14 Comments »

“Blue eyes
Baby’s got blue eyes
Like a deep blue sea
On a blue blue day”

Somehow the words to the old Elton John song come to mind when I gaze into the stunning blue eyes of this Blue-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum ambiguum). This dragonfly was unusually cooperative and let me move in to take this close-up portrait with my macro lens.

If you have never heard “Blue Eyes” or just want a blast from the past, here’s a link to a YouTube video of Elton John performing the song.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Harbinger of autumn

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Blue-faced Meadowhawk, Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Sympetrum ambiguum, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on September 1, 2015| 11 Comments »

What signs do you look for that point to the change of seasons? Throughout most of my life, the changing colors of the fall foliage have been the primary indicator of the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.

The last few years, however, I have become increasingly sensitive to seasonal changes in the dragonfly population as I have increasingly focused my attention and my camera lens on these fascinating and colorful aerial acrobats. Summer is prime time for many dragonfly species, but certain species show up much later in the season and stay with us throughout much of the autumn days.

One of these late-arriving species is the Blue-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum ambiguum) and I was thrilled yesterday to spot a male of this species at Huntley Meadows Park, the marshland where I take a lot of my wildlife photos. This is my first spotting of a Blue-faced Meadowhawk this season and I suspect it won’t be long before I also start seeing his “cousin,” the Autumn Meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum).

I particularly like the bright red color and bold pattern of this dragonfly’s body and its beautiful turquoise face. Although I may vacillate a bit from time to time, I think this is the most beautiful dragonfly species that I have ever encountered. What do you think?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Summer loving

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Canon 50D, Celithemis eponina, halloween pennant, Halloween Pennant dragonfly, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Tamron 180mm macro, Vienna VA on August 31, 2015| 12 Comments »

Summer days are drifting away and the biological clocks are almost certainly ticking loudly for some dragonflies. This past weekend at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna Virginia, I spotted these two Halloween Pennant dragonflies (Celithemis eponina) engaged in a little summer loving.

It’s hard not to feel a little bit like a voyeur as I move in closer to photograph the acrobatic intertwining of the tiny dragonfly bodies. Summer loving happens so fast and soon my colorful little friends will be gone for the season,

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Female Halloween Pennant dragonfly

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Banded Pennant, Banded Pennant dragonfly, Canon 50D, Celithemis eponina, Celithemis fasciata, halloween pennant, Halloween Pennant dragonfly, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Tamron 180mm macro lens, Vienna VA on August 30, 2015| 9 Comments »

One of the highlights for me of a short visit yesterday to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Virginia was spotting this spectacular dragonfly, which I think is a female Banded Pennant (Celithemis fasciata).

Earlier this summer, I spotted a male Banded Pennant, whose body was blue, but the coloration of this one suggests to me that it is a female. The dragonfly was perched on the highest branches of a small tree, which allowed me to isolate it against the beautiful blue sky. You may notice that the branches are different in the two photos—the dragonfly flew away a few times, but returned to the same tree a short time later.

CORRECTION: My initial identification was incorrect. My local dragonfly expert, Walter Sanford, with whom I neglected to consult in advance, provided a correct identification. This is a female Halloween Pennant (Celithemis eponina), not a Banded Pennant.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Dramatic dragonfly

Posted in Art, Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, tagged Canon 50D, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbot Wetlands Refuge, Libellula luctuosa, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, Widow Skimmer, Widow Skimmer dragonfly on August 21, 2015| 7 Comments »

I love the dramatic lighting, the graphic quality, and the simple composition of this shot of a male Widow Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula luctuosa) that I took earlier this month at Jackson Miles Abbot Wetlands at Fort Belvoir, a nearby military installation here in Virginia.

There is a real beauty in simplicity.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Damselflies on the Potomac

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, tagged Argia tibialis, Big Bluet, Blue-tipped Dancer, Blue-tipped Dancer damselfly, Canon 50D, Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, Enallagma durum, Potomac River, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on August 17, 2015| 9 Comments »

When photographing a subject, how important are the surroundings to you? Most of you know that I like close-up shots and often I zoom in or crop to the point where you don’t have a good sense of the environment.

This past weekend, I went for a walk along the Potomac River (on the Virginia side) and observed a lot of damselflies. I had my Tamron 150-600mm lens on my camera and soon realized that I had a problem—even at the minimum focusing distance (approximately 9 feet/2.7 meters), there was no way that I could fill the frame with a damselfly.

Still, I was drawn to the beauty of the damselflies, which I believe are Blue-tipped Dancers (Argia tibialis), and I took quite a few shots of them.

As I reviewed the images on my computer, I realized how much I liked the organic feel of the natural surroundings. In the first shot, there are lots of vines on the surface of the rock on which the damselfly is perched that add texture and visual interest. In the second shot, I love the twist in the vine and the single leaf hanging down.

All in all, the surroundings on these two shots were so interesting that I didn’t feel any desire to crop the images more severely, and the environment has become just as much the subject as the damselfly. It’s probably worth remembering this the next time when I am tempted to move in really close to a subject—I should at least attempt to get some environmental shots too.

UPDATE: It looks like my initial identification was off—there are lots of blue damselflies and this one more probably is a Big Bluet (Enallagma durum). Thanks to my local odonata expert, Walter Sanford, for the assist.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Abstract dragonfly

Posted in Art, Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, tagged abstract, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Libellula pulchella, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Twelve-spotted Skimmer dragonfly on August 16, 2015| 8 Comments »

I tend to focus on the realism of close-up details in most of my dragonfly shots, but sometimes the dragonfly seems almost abstract, a mix of colors, shapes, and patterns, like this male Twelve-spotted Skimmer (Libellula pulchella) that I encountered the past Friday.

For those readers who may not be familiar with this boldly-patterned dragonfly species, I am also including a more “traditional” shot of the same Twelve-spotted Skimmer.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mocha Emerald in August

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Mocha Emerald, Mocha Emerald dragonfly, Somatochlora linearis, Tamron 180mm macro lens on August 15, 2015| 5 Comments »

Most dragonflies appear to like the sunlight, but this Mocha Emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora linearis) that I encountered yesterday seemed to prefer the heavy shade, which made it a bit of a challenge to photograph.

I was walking along a small stream, moving in an out of patches of sunlight when I first spotted the dragonfly. I had my long telephoto lens on my camera and took some initial shots, which turned out blurry—there didn’t seem to be enough light for my camera’s autofocus to function well. I quickly set up my tripod and tried to focus manually, but that didn’t work out too well either.

Fortunately, the dragonfly seemed oblivious to my actions. I switched to my 180mm macro and moved in closer and finally was able to see well enough to focus. Because of the limited amount of light, I had the ISO cranked up to 1600 and used the pop-up flash.

As I moved about trying to get a better angle, I slid twice down the slippery bank of the stream into the shallow water and somehow managed to lose one of the little rubber feet of my tripod, but managed to get a couple of decent shots of this shadow-dwelling dragonfly.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Two-for-one special

Posted in Birds, Dragonflies, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Agelaius phoeniceus, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Common Whitetail dragonfly, female Red-winged Blackbird, Huntley Meadows Park, Plathemis lydia, red-winged blackbird, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on August 12, 2015| 6 Comments »

I can understand how an adept female Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) can catch one dragonfly, but how in the world did this one manage to catch two at once?

I can’t tell for certain, but the dragonflies in the bird’s mouth look to be female Common Whitetails (Plathemis lydia) or possibly immature males, which look like the females. The wings seem to be very transparent, so it’s possible too that these may be newly emerged dragonflies—when they first transition from the water nymph stage into dragonflies, they are very vulnerable.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Centered

Posted in Dragonflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Lake Cook, Libellula luctuosa, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, Widow Skimmer, Widow Skimmer dragonfly on August 10, 2015| 5 Comments »

It violates one of the basic rules of photography to have your subject in the center of an image, but for both of these shots of a male Widow Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula luctuosa), that’s precisely what I did.

In the first image, the blade of grass that bisects the image helps to emphasize the symmetric patterns on the wings of the Widow Skimmer.

In the second image, I was so fascinated by the geometric lines of the grass and their varying degrees of sharpness that I did not want to crop them at all, so I left the Widow Skimmer more or less in the center.

When it comes to my photography, I tend to look at “rules” as general guidelines that apply in many—but not all—situations. That approach helps me to remain centered and flexible.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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