Red dragon

Identification - Orthetrum testaceum testaceum.

I truly thought today's blip was going to be a yellow carpenter bee. I spotted the bee hanging around a single bloom. This was a good thing, it meant that I would get several goes without having to rush or chase the thing down. The bad thing was that the bloom was in the middle of a wet paddy field. But, I consider myself a true blipper, so it was off with the flip-flops and in we go.

Back at the lab, I nearly cried, all 20 images were total rubbish. Blurry, burnt out, over exposed junk. When I think how good my images were of the same subject last August, I thought this was going to be easy. Of course I had forgotten that it took me five sessions to get the technique right. I have just checked the EXIF data on my successful shots and now I am ready for next time.

The rest of my shots from today fared no better; a very cool looking wasp out of focus and a large spider burnt out by the intense sunlight. I only peeled off a couple of shots this dragon because it was there and never intended using them, but it was all I had left!

Dave