Dragonflies and nymph casing

[Emja]

I spent a happy couple of hours on holiday in Zakynthos chasing these lovely dragonflies. Actually they were pretty happy to stay in one place in the morning sun, which was probably why I had more luck than at home! I'm guessing the last picture is a nymph casing - I couldn't believe how unbroken and perfect it was.

dragonfly 3 by Em Jay, on Flickr

• Nikon D3200
  70.0-300.0 mm f/4.0-5.6
• ƒ/8.0
• 300.0 mm
• 1/400
• 400

• dragonfly 1 by Em Jay, on Flickr
  • ƒ/8.0
  • 210.0 mm
  • 1/250
  • 200
  nobody home by Em Jay, on Flickr
  • ƒ/8.0
  • 55.0 mm
  • 1/400
  • 400

 

[Emja]

Oops - just noticed Bill's dragonfly thread - would have put them there if I'd realised.

 

[Oddshapedoctopus]

Great shots of dragonfly. I chased a pair about yesterday but they were a bit too active for me to get a good shot.

 

[DawnPatrol]

Really beautiful shots. The first one is definitely my favorite, probably because of the color palette. The orange and blue have such a nice contrast, really makes your focal pop. Never seen a dragon fly like that before, very pretty creature, nice job capturing it!

 

[Emja]

Really beautiful shots. The first one is definitely my favorite, probably because of the color palette. The orange and blue have such a nice contrast, really makes your focal pop. Never seen a dragon fly like that before, very pretty creature, nice job capturing it!

Thank you!

 

[Deleted member 11790]

lovely pics

love the lighting on the first two

 

[Emja]

lovely pics

love the lighting on the first two

Thanks Chris - these were taken about an hour after sunrise. It had warmed up enough for the dragonflies to let me get quite close.

 

[BillN_33]

you did really well with those shots Emma

 

[Emja]

you did really well with those shots Emma

Thanks Bill. It was proper luxury being on holiday and having so much time to spend just watching these beautiful creatures as well as photographing them.

 

[dod]

aye, very nice shots. Haven't even seen one this year

 

[Emja]

aye, very nice shots. Haven't even seen one this year

Thank you - let's hope summer isn't completely over yet. I've just been lucky enough to get the Sigma 105 and am hoping to get a few more minibeasties before the season's up...

 

[JohnC6]

Very well caught and pretty amazing that last one.

 

[Emja]

Very well caught and pretty amazing that last one.

Thank you - I had never seen a nymph casing (is that the right term?!) up close before and was stunned at how small the exit hole was, and how much detail was left.

 

[Brachytron]

The nymph case isn't a dragonfly, more like a cicada I think.

The dragonfly looks like a Yellow-winged Darter.

 

[Graham]

The nymph case isn't a dragonfly, more like a cicada I think.

The dragonfly looks like a Yellow-winged Darter.

I got to agree on the shots, all really good and a lovely BG you got with them too, especially the 1st one.
You beat me to it yes its a Cicada shell, Cicada are those things you can hear when walking/driving or whatever, they rub their wings or legs or something and make all that racket, quite hard to see them against the tree bark as they have amazing camoflage.

 

[Emja]

The nymph case isn't a dragonfly, more like a cicada I think.

The dragonfly looks like a Yellow-winged Darter.

I got to agree on the shots, all really good and a lovely BG you got with them too, especially the 1st one.
You beat me to it yes its a Cicada shell, Cicada are those things you can hear when walking/driving or whatever, they rub their wings or legs or something and make all that racket, quite hard to see them against the tree bark as they have amazing camoflage.

Aha...thank you both so much - exactly the reason I love posting shots here. There were so many cicadas out there - the noise was quite deafening at times, and you're right, they were so hard to spot.