For the second weekend in a row, I was able to get out and do some dragonfly photography at Rock Cut State Park in Loves Park, Illinois. It was entirely too windy to be out shooting dragonflies. I quickly discovered that the bigger dragonflies were very busy trying to stay aloft and all their good landing spots were moving around too much to be useful to them. After a half-hour of nothing, I was packing up my gear to head home when I noticed that down low to the water, hanging out on small grasses and reeds were the tiniest dragonflies, perfectly content staying out of the wind.
It actually turns out that these weren’t dragonflies at all, but rather they were damselflies. Damselflies have hinged wings that can be folded back against the body. Dragonflies do not have hinged wings. I’m sure there are other differences, but I need to do a little more reading on the subject.
With my tripod set as low as possible, and me sitting on the bridge over the pond, I photographed these tiny little damselflies…each just a couple of inches long. My 300mm lens was still more than enough to pull them in close. In fact, at times I was too close to focus and had to back the camera up a foot or two.
So once again, I am reminded of how easy it is to get tunnel vision when out shooting. Two weekends ago, I was so busy photographing the bigger dragonflies, I didn’t even notice these little damselflies. In the Navy, an expression I heard nearly every day while out on the Aircraft Carriers was, “keep your head on a swivel“. In other words, you have to be aware of your surroundings at all times. On the ship, it was to stay alive. But “keep your head on a swivel” applies to photography too. Always be on the lookout for a better shot and also keep an eye out for any dangers while your making images.