Heads Up!

This is one of several dragonflies we have had here all summer long. In fact, it is one of a pair. They seem to have become somewhat tame. Today this one let me get so close I was at the minimum focusing distance with my Canon 100 mm macro!

I wish I could have used my tripod, but they won't stand for that, so I had to go "hand held". But they do let me walk up close, so long as I walk slowly with no sudden moves. They seem to accept it more if I keep the camera to my eye as I get close instead of moving it there when I am ready to shoot. I also jack up the speed of my exposure in order to minimize the effect of my movement or that of my subject.

After about 90 seconds of putting up with me, this dragonfly and his mate could be apart no longer. They had to be together to proliferate their species. In a flash they were flying around me coupled. A few seconds later they lit on a tomato stake that was a couple of feet away from me.