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Dragonfly In Flight

4K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  KankRat 
#1 ·
I have been working at this for a couple years now, yesterday I finally got a sharp shot of a dragonfly in flight. This is a very common D-fly, the "Green Darner". It's the big honkin' blue green species- you are all familiar with.
Getting a shot in flight is super hard.
Green Darner in Flight by Mark Kasick, on Flickr
 
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#2 ·
I've shared this elsewhere. The common question is how did you freeze the wings. That's easy. They call that motion blur. The hard part is focus. Most of what camera companies hype is bullshit, for stuff moving this fast you need to move a single AF point directly on the subject. If you are off by a tiny bit, the camera will try to focus on something 300 ft behind the subject. Instant blown shot.
 
#5 ·
I met a guy last year at Wright Woods when it was flooded this time last year. He pointed out this gorgeous metallic purple dragonfly saying he was trying to do exactly what you did here. Worst part, the whole place was totally flooded. He waded in jeans and gym shoes about knee deep following this thing and never got it.

Your pic is phenomeonal. So many colors you don't normally see in the second it takes one to whizz by. The wing detail is incredible too.
 
#7 ·
GREAT shot!!

Last time at Skokie Lagoons I watched 2 Green Darners flitting around in the bushes. They finally found each other and sailed off joined together to keep the species going. Adult dragonflies live only about a week - most of their lives are spent as nymphs crawling around in the mud under water. Wonder if they have any idea that procreation means death?

Woohoodude11 said:
He pointed out this gorgeous metallic purple dragonfly
Probably some type of Pond Skimmer. Maybe a Slaty?

BTW - just occurred to me that the reason my buddy always out fishes me is because he fishes more than I do. While he's busy casting and catching I keep getting distracted by nature. Hmm...
 
#10 ·
Rambler said:
Probably some type of Pond Skimmer. Maybe a Slaty?
I googled those and it doesnt look quite the same. It looked like this with a chrome finish. I haven't seen anything like it since. Probably why the guy was getting himself soaked chasing a bug.
 

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#12 ·
Woohoodude11 said:
I googled those and it doesnt look quite the same. It looked like this with a chrome finish. I haven't seen anything like it since. Probably why the guy was getting himself soaked chasing a bug
Don't forget that there's lots of variations among individuals of the same species. This helps explain weird phenomenon like the Trumpster.
 
#13 ·
Rambler said:
GREAT shot!!

Last time at Skokie Lagoons I watched 2 Green Darners flitting around in the bushes. They finally found each other and sailed off joined together to keep the species going. Adult dragonflies live only about a week - most of their lives are spent as nymphs crawling around in the mud under water. Wonder if they have any idea that procreation means death?

[
Fake news :)
Yes, the larva to adult lifespan is disproportionate but the adults live up to a couple months- species dependent.
The female mates with multiple mates and lays eggs from them. Apparently male dragonflies are not into sloppy seconds (sorry moderators), so when they actually copulate the male actually has the ability to remove the previous dude's spooge (again, sorry moderators). So, when he finally puts his sperm in her only his genes will go in the next set of eggs.

Here is nice sharp shot of green darners locked in tandem.
Green Darners Mating by Mark Kasick, on Flickr

Here is an excellent sex ed class on how damsels and dragons mat.
 
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