I love photographing dragonflies as they perch on lotus flowers and lotus buds. Alas, the lotuses were not yet in bloom last week when I visited Green Spring Gardens, a nearby county-run garden that has a small pond with a few lotuses and water lilies.
Fortunately quite a few dragonflies were buzzing around the pond and I managed to capture this image of a male Blue Dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis) as he perched on the tip of a rolled-up lotus leaf. I like the way that the texture of the leaf adds visual interest to the image, something that would be absent if the dragonfly had perched on a bare branch.
I will probably return to the gardens in a few weeks to see if I can get some shots of the lotuses when they are blooming. As I recall, lotuses seem to enjoy the hazy, hot, and humid days that are far too common during the summer in the Washington D.C. area.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 