Dragonflies

From Friday. I was going to post these in the afternoon but after some appointments and a significant grocery pricing and reward points fiasco sort out were completed, I was tired and didn't get around to it.

 A Blue Darner (named for how the shape of their body resembles a darning needle) - he was patrolling a patch of soapberry bushes and trees and obliged by sitting still for enough time to get some good shots of him. The typical large dragonfly, and so when he parked himself not far from me it was easy to get a good shot with the 70-300 lens. I really liked how sharp his features came out - the details in his wings, hairs on his legs, and the patterning on his eyes. Straight from the camera.

Another kind of dragonfly - not sure what this one is called. He was very small for a dragon fly, maybe an inch or two long, as you can see from the comparison to the dandelion leaf he's resting on. This one was more of a challenge as he was hard to see when he landed and was less inclined to hold still. Couple that with his small size and it was tricky for sure. His eyes are not as focused as I would have liked, but the photo still has its merits. I like the shadow of his wing veins and on the leaf and the lighting is interesting. I cropped this one in Picasa to bring the focus back the the dragonfly and make him a more significant part of the image.