Western Meadowhawk

Dragonflies are as bizarre as they are beautiful. I've managed to get wickedly close to them for extended lengths of time, which allowed for some pretty spectacularly detailed photos. Using a lens that focuses fast is a big help, and I like to add just the ridiculously cheap +10 close-up screw-on filters so the sweet spot of focus is about an inch in front of the glass. Yes, a dedicated macro lens would be nice, but a $10 addition to an existing lens is all it takes to open up a whole world of new subjects without breaking the bank. Choose the tightest aperture available, and use a flash. Even the camera's popup flash works fine if the lens itself is not too long. The trick I learned when shooting dragonflies is to just chill out with them for about an hour before seriously trying to shoot them. If you're around that long without managing to hurt any of them, you are clearly either a vegetarian or a really bad hunter. Bottom line, you aren't much of a threat. The second trick is to always keep one of your eyes hidden behind the camera body. Two-eyed monsters are a threat, one-eyed monsters have no depth perception and are therefore going to be safe. By that same logic, wearing an eye patch like a pirate would probably help when stalking small critters too. I'll have to try that sometime.

This is a Western Meadowhawk I shot near Berthoud, Colorado.