Dragonfly Shaking Off a Concussion | 105mm, f/11, 1/45 sec., ISO 3200
Yep, my Facebook friends were correct… the photo from yesterday was a closeup of dragonfly wings. (You can click on the photo for a slightly larger view.)
I was at the lake, out on the deck cleaning out the grill, when I heard a “doink…thud.” I turned around to see a dragonfly who’d flown into the window, now laying on its back on the deck, obviously stunned from his unfortunate attempt to fly through the glass.
It was a HUGE dragonfly, his spindly legs flailing in the air, trying to grab something to right himself. I grabbed the camera that I happened to have outside and made sure that I got some photos of him before I helped him get upright, because I wasn’t sure if he would fly away immediately once I helped him. After taking two or three photos, I found a twig (what he’s holding on to in the picture) and extended it to help him pull himself upright.
He latched on to the twig, and I turned it over, and he managed to get on his feet, but still appeared stunned and just sat there. I took three or four more pictures before he finally came around and buzzed off toward the lake, hopefully none the worse for his knock on the head.
It dawned on me later that it rarely happens that I’m in the right place at the right time with my camera and with the right kind of lens to get the best shot. Of course, I didn’t have time to get my tripod, but even the hand-held shot caught some amazing details.
Wing tip to tip, I’d guess this big guy (girl?) was close to six inches across. It had the most amazing green eyes! The colors in the photo are not retouched. As a matter of fact, all I’ve done is crop the photo and sharpen the details just a bit so you can see the intricacy and delicateness of the wings a bit better.
There are some really cool-looking creatures out there… now I just need to wait for the next one to knock itself silly so I can get a picture. :)
Through a Glass, Darkly 