With the sky full of clouds and very washed out during the heat of the day, doesn’t this look like I invited this Common Blue Dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis) into my studio for a portrait session against a white backdrop? Pretty awesome and unexpected effect!
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
It’s obvious I spent quite a bit of time stalking Slaty Skimmers at Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens yesterday afternoon! Several of these beauties kept coming back to this same bare branch and I stayed close by to capture various angles. It was a great opportunity to experiment with varying depth-of-field, exposures and compositions.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
One more Slaty Skimmer dragonfly shot…I usually like to diffuse the light when I can with my tri-grip diffuser (for more saturated color and even lighting on my subject), but sometimes the sunlight works in my favor. In this case, the sunlight illuminated my subject and my background…and the shallow depth of field renders the Sacred lotus leaves as glowing abstract shapes.
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
Slaty Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula incesta); photographed against a backdrop of sunlit Sacred lotus leaves; Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
My dear friend/neighbor (and fellow photographer) Michael Powell just won a second place ribbon for his “Baby’s Got Blue Eyes” photo of a Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly in the Friends of Huntley Meadows Park photo contest this month. (To the left of his winning entry is his eagle photo and to the right is a bluebird photo he also entered; two of the four entries allowed). I helped him prepare his four photos for exhibition and am so proud of him for placing. He’s finally getting his stuff on display! Next up—convincing him to exhibit an entire solo show of his nature photography. Thanks to Walter Sanford for sharing Mark Jette’s photo of Michael’s winning entry.
See more of Michael’s work here: http://www.michaelqpowell.wordpress.com/
I think this is a Flame Skimmer dragonfly. Photographed at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, TX
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
I haven’t been able to identify the exact kind of dragonfly this one is (yet). Any guesses (other than the obvious “black dragonfly”)? Photographed at Green Spring Gardens
UPDATE: Special thanks to a visitor to my blog, Robley Hood, for identifying this beauty—it’s a Slaty skimmer (Libellula incesta).
© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.
GIVE ‘EM SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT