When I walked onto my front porch to photograph the Jerusalem Artichoke wildflowers that I featured in yesterday’s post, several species of dragonflies and damselflies flew up. After photographing the wildflowers, I managed to capture a couple of images of a female Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly:
The Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis) is a medium-sized dragonfly, about 1 inch long and a 2-inch wingspan, that is quite common around my area. Females and newly-emerged males are green, with dark brown bodies. As they mature, the males turn from green to blue, starting at the back and moving forward, until they are solid blue. Both males and females have green eyes. They are considered a ferocious dragonfly, occasionally eating one another.
Photographic Equipment Used:
- Canon 5D Mark 3 body
- Canon EF 180mm, f/3.5 macro lens (top photo also included a Canon 1.4x TC)
- Vanguard Alta Pro 283CT carbon fiber tripod + StudiBall ballhead
- ISO 500 (top photo) and ISO 800 (bottom photo)
- Aperture f/11 (top photo) and f/6.3 (bottom photo)
- Shutter 1/320 sec. (both photos)