“Flying Dragon”

The following photo was taken at Cheam Lake Wetlands Regional Park, Rosedale, B.C., Canada.

I have always been amazed by the darting flight pattern of the dragonfly and I have attempted to photograph them in flight many times with no success. As with many insects and mammals including the human race there are habitual patterns that can be observed. I sat alongside a buzzing shoreline of dragonflies and noticed the same flight pattern of one specimen. I set up my camera with a tripod and a remote shutter release pointing in the direction of one busy buzzing bug.

So while sitting comfortably on my chair waiting for a particular dragonfly to unwittingly whip into my field of view I was quickly confronted by questions, as usual, by walking passersby. “What was I photographing?” or “did you get any good photos?” being the two most common questions. When I stated that I was trying to get a particular dragonfly in flight there was always a hesitation and a somewhat sarcastic “good luck with that” as they kept on walking. Sure it seems impossible but the combination of patience and knowing your quarry along with obvious technical camera skills are keys to satisfactory results.  So after many shutter clicks and an earful of “good luck with that” I finally photographed my Flying Dragon!

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I hope you enjoy the photos.