Topical Salve: September 2016

12 September 2016

Holy Grails

Dragon. Flying.

In flight. Not from the rear. (In focus goes without saying). That is my Holy Grail of insect photography.

The flying dragon is Rhionaeschna multicolor -- a Blue-eyed Darner.

I never thought I would capture a dragonfly in flight. They've always been too skittish when I approached them. Damselflies seemed the less high-strung cousin, so I concentrated on them. Plus their wings fold back, which makes for better perching photos.

Recently, however, I encountered this dragonfly flying lazy loops, patrolling its patch of the San Diego Safari Park. It was very predictable, and the light was good. So I stopped my camera down as much as I could without sacrificing shutter speed, and did a combination zoom, pan, and shoot until my camera's meager buffer was full.

The above photo was the best of the bunch. The eye is not in super-sharp focus, but I am happy with the result.

Check out where the Darner holds its forelegs while in flight: behind its eyes, tucked up against its neck! Its other four legs are tucked neatly beneath it. I wonder if that's a Darner thing, or if all dragonflies do this?

Did you know dragonflies actuate their wings differently than most insects? Smarter Every Day covered this: