If you want to photograph dragonflies for identification purposes, it is best to photograph them from the side. The side view gives you a good view of the head, thorax, and abdomen of the dragonfly, although the tips of the wings often are out of focus. If you are a scientist, the side view is probably the best one for you.
If you are are an artist, however, you are not so worried about having the entire dragonfly in focus. You focus on the beauty of the dragonfly and on different ways pf capturing that beauty. I personally really like head-on frontal shots of a dragonfly that provide an almost abstract view of the amazing creature.
This past Monday I encountered a Halloween Pennant dragonfly (Celithemis eponina) during a visit to Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I carefully maneuvered around the dragonfly in order to get an almost head-on view of it.
Shooting at an upwards angle, I captured the image below. I really like the abstract feel of the shot—your mind has to do some quick processing to realize that the subject is a dragonfly. There is an abstract minimalism to the shot that I really like that was enhanced by the way that I had to shoot at an upward angle, which eliminated all of the clutter behind the dragonfly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 