Two pairs of transparent wings
sparkling in the sun
like stained glass windows
reflecting the morning light—
the dragonfly rests. ~ms
Standing on water’s edge, I thought I could easily take photos of a few dragonflies. Wrong answer! An extremely elusive insect with incredible wing power, a dragonfly is like a biplane, helicopter, and high-speed jet combined. It can change its direction and velocity in the blink of an eye. Even when it stops to rest, it might only stay still for a few seconds before it chooses to fly away again. I didn’t know how to anticipate the next move!
After many hours of trying (and failing), I was finally able to get one relatively clear photo of a blue dragonfly standing on a blade of grass. Good enough! I spent the remainder of this beautiful summer day sitting by the lake, relaxing under the trees.
*Update — July 25*
Today, down by the Rappahannock River, I came across a dragonfly who actually seemed to be interested in posing for pictures. I’m not sure why, but I certainly appreciated it!
Before I Forget 
Rewarding endeavor!
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Hello Personal Concerns!
Where have you been? Nice to hear from you again!
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🙂 should be more regular now!
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So glad to hear that!!
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Your patience was well-rewarded, Mary! 🙂 A very fine catch you have with this one!
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Thanks Uncle Tree!
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Dragonflies take a lot of patience to photograph. I can end up standing in one place for 30 or 40 minutes before the dragonflies decide I’m just part of the environment and land long enough for me to photograph them. Some don’t seem to care, others are sensitive to every little noise. I usually have to turn off stabilization and autofocus, because the noises make them fly, and often I only get one shot because the sound of the shutter sends them flying.
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Aha….but stand too long in one spot and the mosquitoes might find you!
The dragonflies are very aware of what is going on around them.
Doesn’t take much to make them fly away.
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Fortunately, we don’t have a lot of mosquitoes, and the few we have don’t like the heat or dryness during daylight hours.
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Beautiful post. The picture of the lake makes you feel relaxed just by looking at it. 🙂
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Thanks Sharifah!
Looking at water and trees is very relaxing.
Trying to photograph a dragonfly…is not! 🙂
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Beautiful photographs
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Thank you! Nature is, without a doubt, naturally beautiful. 😉
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I was standing on my little dock a few days ago watching iridescent blue bodied dragonflies and thinking how amazingly quick they were. Now I’m glad you had the patience to capture one. I don’t think I could wait that long!
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You are absolutely right–the dragonfly is amazingly quick.
Made me feel incredibly slow!
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The poem is great. Your efforts were not done for nothing. The shot of blue dragonfly is excellent.
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Thanks Alexander!
The dragonfly is so elusive; the master of flight!
I plan to go back to the lake…earlier on a cooler morning. I hear the dragonfly is a little slower before it gets warmed up by the sun and the heat of the summer days. 🙂
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It is good idea. In the early morning when plants are covered with dew all the insects wet too. This is why they are slow and still.
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Your description of the erratic flight and difficulty photographing this subject reminds me of ….. UFOs. 🙂
Beautiful shots, by the way.
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Aha…you are absolutely right.
Dragonflies do have the same qualities, but they are IFOs.
Or–to be even more specific–IFIs (Identified Flying Insects). 😉
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Snapped a good one though. Points for patience
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There were also yellow, and green, and brown dragonflies that were zinging around at high speed–blurs of color in the morning sun.
Yep. I am moving through life in slow motion (at a snail’s space) in comparison to the dragonfly. Humbling, to be sure.
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I love the second picture ! Lovely place and pictures 🙂
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It is a lovely spot, I agree!
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You photo is amazing, well done…I have tried many time to capture the dragonfly and failed…I know how hard it is to get even an acceptable photo…
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Thanks Charlie! I don’t think we have invented a “flying machine” that can rival the dragonfly. Because it is so elusive and unpredictable, I had to wait until it stopped moving to take a decent photo!
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Beautiful shot…
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Thanks!. I was lucky to have the sky in the background. The blue of the dragonfly goes well with the blue of the sky. My favorite color..
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A great capture on the dragonfly Mary.
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Thanks Laurie!
And now, as I look at the photo….I am wondering…..how did it get the name dragonfly?
Doesn’t really look like a dragon.
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You’re welcome Mary. I know it’s more like a helicopter.
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I love all your posts.
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Thank you and welcome back!!
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You’ve captured him well! It is a beautiful shot.
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Thanks! One of these days, I want to go back and try to get photos of the yellow and green ones too.
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I love the iridescence of dragonfly wings and the places they hang out.
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I love the wings too. So beautiful in the sunlight. I could see the sky right through them.
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Wow, that’s a brilliant picture of a Dragon Fly – worth your patience!! 🙂 They are very fast, and they do freak me out a bit if they get too close, but I don’t think they would ever collide with me, they know what they’re doing. And I agree, their wings are like stained glass windows! 🙂
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Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
OOOOOO! DRAGON’SFLY WINGS!!!!
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Yes….and it is ooooh so hard to get close to the illusive dragonfly, because of the power and versatility of its wings.
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And its reaction time, too!
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Way faster than I ever was or will ever be….
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Me, too…especially for Biology Class! 😀
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And…thank you for not coming down hard on me for reblogging. May I….or is this it and no more?
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Personally, I think a blog should be the work of the author–and not a cut and paste collection of other people’s work (referred to as “reblogging”).
Because I do not like reblogs, I never do that. Among other things, reblogs add duplications of the same post onto the search engines unnecessarily.
If you search on Google, you will see my original post and then…just a few lines down…it now appears again “By The Mighty Mumford” (very confusing). Makes one wonder, at first glance, who is the author and who copied the work. If the link is opened, it is clear that I am the author.
With the addition of the reblog feature, WordPress made it very easy for people to copy and paste in a matter of seconds. It makes me want to stop writing.
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Thank you. I will LIKE and comment, from here on out! 🙂
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This is a magnificent photo! And the poetry accompanying the photo is so apt and captures the allure of the dragonfly.
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Thanks….Dragonflies are amazing aerial experts!
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The Dragonfly is ‘jittery’ by nature. Very few live to adulthood: As most are eaten by predators.
Even the ‘lucky’ few.. only live for a few months.
Great Photo..
Very nice poem.
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Thanks!
The dragonfly is rather “jittery” and hard to follow.
I saw a few birds trying to capture them, and the birds were having a hard time.
Seems there must be an easier meal to find!
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Great picture. Now, I’m going to have to see if I can get a picture of one of these beauties. 🙂
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It’s a challenge,that’s for sure!
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A good catch with the dragonfly!!
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Thanks Christy….I was lucky the dragonfly decided to sit still for a few seconds!
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Excellent additions to your dragonfly collection!
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Incredible captures! Really love these dragonfly photos. 🙂
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Thanks Amy…it was fun “capturing” them!
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Lovely photographs Mary!! So beautiful and lively! Stay creative always!!
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Thanks John!
Creative is what we are and should ever be!
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These are clear photographs.
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Thank you!
I was very lucky that some dragonflies sat still long enough for me to get a clear photo!
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Mary, just love your dragonfly photos. Thank you for being persistent enough to capture these, especially the last. That is one I haven’t noticed in our garden yet, and it is quite beautiful. Our dragonflies are quite the camera hogs, often flying a circle and coming back to rest on the same platform for a second, third, fourth photo. They are great fun to photograph, and very challenging. What a beautiful blog you have. Best wishes, WG
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Thankyou Woodland gnome (love the name)!
The dragonflies around here seem to use the long blades of grass like airport landing strips.
As you say, they often return to the same resting place several times. Maybe they have an assigned flight pattern. 🙂
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There is definitely thought in what they do 😉 I had a group of them doing this as I took photo earlier in the summer. They all returned to the same little shrub on the bank of a creek time and again as I photographed them. I love the Rappahannock, and lived on its bank near Kilmarnock for a few years. What a beautiful part of Virginia. Best wishes, WG
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I’ve often wondered if the inventors of the helicopter were inspired by this beautiful insect.
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I’m sure that many of our ideas are based on observations of nature.
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Fantastic shot!
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Thank you! I have not been keeping up with my blog, I see.
Too busy worrying, which is I know, a useless endeavor.
But I couldn’t help myself. And the worry sat on my creativity so hard, I couldn’t write. 😉
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I hear that: I’m much the same way. Keep it up, though, in spite of what may come up!
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Thanks!
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Stunningly beautiful pictures.
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
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Thank you David! Now that it’s winter, there are no dragonflies to be seen around here.
Hmmmm…I wonder where they go. Perhaps they exit the world on gossamer wings at the end of summer, and travel on to the great beyond. I’m going to have to look it up. The way dragonflies constantly zing around, with little rest, they probably die rather quickly from exhaustion. Speaking of which….I’ve been pretty tired these days.
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Beautiful post and photos.
I have also found it difficult to photograph Dragonflies.
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It is difficult, that’s for sure. They just won’t sit still!
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Hi Mary. I had to stop by and see what you were up to. This post brought me in because Dragonflies intrigue me. Such a delight and they are beautiful. Only once have I been able to capture a dragonfly on camera and it was quite a while ago.
I was very involved in the photography community for quite some time but it became too much work for me — no longer as much fun. So, after a 2 year away I came back with just having fun with the recipes again.
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It took hours for me to get a dragonfly photo…They don’t stay still for long!
I love it when people post recipes, because I don’t know much about cooking. I grew up in a family with 9 children, so all recipes tended to be watered down. Spaghetti was made with 1 large can of tomato sauce and then many cups of water. It fed more people that way. But it certainly wasn’t the tastiest recipe! 😮
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