Dragonflies

As usual, I attempted to photograph the many dragonflies I saw along the edge of the lake and at a nearby river. I suspect the dragonflies must live longer there as some are huge and can be mistaken for a small bird as they flit past.

The fascination with dragonflies is not only their beauty but their life cycle where they spend most of their life under water as a nymph, a stage that can last up to five years. When the larva is ready to metamorphose, it climbs a reed or other water plant. Exposure to air causes the larva to begin breathing. The skin splits at a weak spot behind the head and the adult crawls out of its larval skin, dries its wings, and flies off to feed on mosquitoes and other flying insects. Generally they live less than half a year from that point. They are an example in nature of what many believe is true in spirit, a kind of resurrection or rebirth.

The prize photo this time was a golden dragonfly that seemed to glow when the sun hit it. When taking photos of it in the fireweed, using the telephoto, something almost magical happened as the sunlight combined with the background to create something that looks like a painting or that it was put together in photoshop but it wasn't. You know, a lot of photography is just plain luck but recognizing the luck when you see it. You take a lot, often of the same thing, because once in awhile something different happens, and it's why you took the rest.