Common Green Darner Dragonfly

Columbus day weekend is fall foliage peak and prime season for Northern New England and I spent a couple of days in Bar Harbor, Maine to visit Acadia National Park. On my last morning I made my way along Ocean Drive and photographed famous landmarks like Monument Cove and Otter Cliff. After the early morning shoot I decided to stop one more time and chose Little Hunters Beach. Little Hunters Beach is a small cobble stone beach tucked away off the scenic park loop road and I once discovered some great driftwood here that made it into my ongoing human forms in nature collection. This time I focused on abstract reflections of rock formations in small tide pools; they made for great subjects and came out nicely. After the shoot I packed up and stumbled across the cobble stones, watching my steps so as not to trip when I suddenly spotted this green burst of color in front of me. The totally unexpected: A common green darner dragonfly clawing to the cobbles stones enjoying the early morning sun! I instantly took out my camera, changed lenses and adjusted the camera aperture to be ready in case the dragonfly didn't take off right away. Let me tell you, luck was on my side this morning. I carefully crawled closer to get a frame filling macro photography image and while in the early morning insects are often lethargic, this one was almost ready to go. I quickly adjusted my camera aperture setting to f/5.6, moved the camera into range, focused, composed the photograph, and captured the photo before the common green darner dragonfly took off. The insect challenged me by giving me only one shot ... darn it, darner!

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