Yellow Bush Dart

One late evening I found this whitish bodied damselfly resting on a dry twig in the garden. It was quite dark outside. So I picked up my macro rig which consisted of Canon EOS 5D mark II fitted with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM. For illumination I used ExpoImaging Ray Flash Adapter fitted on to Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash. It was sitting almost close to the ground in a very tight corner. As focusing was difficult, I used my Canon Right Angle Finder and photographed this damselfly almost lying down on the ground. If I had flippable live view finder like Canon EOS 600D it would have been wonderful. Due to the low light I was not able to see the damselfly properly. Fortunately the white body of the damselfly helped in my focus. Even though I was very close to the ground, the background was not clear as it was surrounded by bushes. I could later identify that it was a Male Yellow Bush Dart damselfly (Copera marginipes)

Yellow Bush Dart

Male Yellow Bush Dart is little larger than female. Characteristic feature of Yellow Bush Dart is a black band which extends from eye to eye. Male Yellow Bush Dart has eyes which are black above, greenish on sides and beneath with black equatorial band. Thorax is bronze black with fine yellow lines on sides. The stripe on sides is narrow and pale greenish yellow. Legs are bright yellowish orange. Wings are transparent. Wing spot is brown. Abdomen is bronzed black above. Segment 3-6 with a pale stripe along the side and a narrow pale greenish white ring at the end of each segment.

Yellow Bush Dart

The specimen I had was more whitish than brown that was because the damselfly was in the teneral phase. Teneral is the period when the adult insect is newly emerged from the pupal case or nymphal skin. During the teneral period, the insect’s exoskeleton has not hardened or darkened, leaving it vulnerable. The term comes from the Latin tener, meaning soft, young, and tender.

Yellow Bush Dart

Female Yellow Bush Dart’s ground color is dark with varying shades of brown. Eyes are similar to the male but has a brown cap. Thorax is brown. The black stripe above is similar to that of males and black stripe on sides is irregular. Legs are brownish. Wings are transparent. Wing spot is pale brown. Abdomen is brown above with broad rings towards the end. Half of 8th segment and the whole of 9-10th segments pale brownish white.

Yellow Bush Dart

Found along ponds, puddles, canals and streams. Flies less than a meter above the ground. It breeds in shallow water collections, such as rainwater puddles and backwaters of streams. Flight season is from August to November. Distributed throughout the oriental region.

Female Common Picture Wing Dragonfly

This is a colorful golden yellow and brown winged dragonfly which can easily be mistaken for a butterfly from far away. I found it on one afternoon perched on a dry twig fluttering its wings to a strong breeze. It is female Common Picture Wing Dragonfly(Rhyothemis variegata), also called Variegated Flutterer. I was using my Canon EOS 1D Mark IV with Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM + Canon EF 1.4x III Extender.

Female Common Picture Wing Dragonfly in B&W

“Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes” said Oscar Wilde. As I was engrossed catching as many poses of this beauty in that breeze I missed the loose release plate on my mono-pod head. After the dragonfly flew away I got up and raised my heavy rig which was hosted on my carbon fiber mono-pod to my shoulder in search of my next model. Suddenly I heard a big thud behind my back. When I tuned around to my horror, I saw my camera had come loose from the mono-pod head and fell straight down from my shoulder almost 5feet to a granite stone slab underneath. My 1D mark IV magnesium body shell had taken all the impact. The hot shoe area was bent and top housing was broken. I tried using the camera and it seemed to be working. Luckily 300mm lens as well as 1.4x extender had sustained no damage whatsoever. Now my recently acquired 1D mark IV is in Canon service center getting repaired.

It had been a horrifying experience / mistake. Not checking the tightness of the release plate especially when I am loading it with such a lot of weight was my mistake. I might have inadvertently loosened the release plate when using the ball head. But that simple mistake had cost me big. This experience has taught me a great lesson to check & recheck all my equipment for good working condition as well as security. I am planning to fit the camera an extra secure mechanism which will hold it in case of such inadvertent slippage. I have also purchased a different mono-pod head which has a detente pin for extra security.

Female Common Picture Wing Dragonfly

Male common picture wing dragonfly has iridescent green frons. Eyes are dark reddish brown above. Thorax is iridescent green. Legs are black. The fore-wing is transparent and golden yellow. The wing tip, leading edge and center of the wing are marked with deep coffee brown spots. The hind-wing also has similar spots; however the central spot is absent. More over, the wing base is marked with an irregular brown patch. The trailing edge of the hind-wing has a characteristic ‘w’ shaped coffee brown mark. Wing spot and abdomen is black.

Female common picture wing dragonfly is slightly smaller than male. Eyes are dark reddish brown above. Tips of the fore-wings are transparent. A dark brown opaque area extends to the center of fore wing. This area borders a bright yellow hockey stick shaped patch. In hind-wings the brown opaque area is more extensive and reaches up to the wing tip, which encloses a long yellow central patch and a small yellow spot towards the wing tip. This patch also borders yellow spots of wing margins. Wing spot is black. Abdomen is bluish black.

Female Common Picture Wing Dragonfly

It is a prominent dragonfly of marshes, paddy fields and ponds. This species is easily mistaken for a butterfly. A weak flier and frequently perches on aquatic weeds. This dragonfly is rarely seen away from water. It breeds in marshes, ponds and paddy fields. Found throughout the year, especially near perennial marshes.

Male Scarlet Skimmer

Photographing dragonflies is very rewarding experience. They exhibit a wide range of bright colors and present a challenge to photograph, at rest or in-flight. My favorite dragonfly photography lens was Canon EF 300mm f/4L telephoto lens as it had minimum focusing distance among all the large telephoto lenses I possessed. Now since I sold that lens for a brighter Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L I added a 1.4x teleconverter, for a bit of additional image magnification. You can also add 25mm extension ring and decrease minimal focus distance.

When I photograph dragonflies I like to have as much distance between me and the dragonfly as is practical. That is why I use this long telephoto lenses instead of a short macro lens. Photographing dragonflies from a distance does not disturb the dragonfly as you are least of a threat to it. It also gives me to better control the background in an image. Dragonflies are best photographed on plain, untextured backgrounds to reveal the intricate patterning of the wings. The wings of a dragonfly are quite transparent and the intricate veining of the wings can be lost against a background full of twigs, sticks, and gravel. Compare the first photo with the last one you will get what I mean.

Male Scarlet Skimmer

Dragonflies have a habit to come back to the same perch they were sitting. So if you keep focused on the twig where it was sitting you can get nice in flight shot without much of an effort. It is no use chasing them if you want to shoot dragon flies. Here are few links to know more about dragonfly photography.

• How I Photograph Dragonflies
• Dragonfly Photography 101
• Dragonfly Photography

Male Scarlet Skimmer

Scarlet Skimmer (Crocothemis servilia) is a medium sized blood red or reddish yellow dragonfly with amber colored patch at wing base. It is also known as Crimson Darter, Oriental Scarlet, Ruddy Marsh Skimmer.

The male Scarlet Skimmer is blood red in color. Face is blood red. Eyes are blood red above, purple on the sides. Thorax is blood red to bright orange. Abdomen is blood red with a mid dorsal black stripe. Legs are reddish. Wings are transparent with a base which is marked with rich amber. Wing spot is dark brown.

The female Scarlet Skimmer is reddish yellow in color. Face is pale yellow. Eyes are brown above and olivaceous below. Thorax is dark brown. Abdomen is yellowish brown with a mid dorsal black stripe. Legs are dark brown. Wings are transparent and basal amber marking paler than in the males. Wing spot is pale yellow.

Male Scarlet Skimmer in flight

Habits and habitat: One of the commonest red dragonflies. Frequently found in ponds, puddles, rivers, big wells, tanks, ditches and paddy fields. This dragonfly perches on aquatic weeds and chases any passing by dragonflies.

It breeds in marshes associated with ponds, rivers and tanks. Seen flying throughout the year. It is extremely widespread species, occurring throughout mainland tropical and subtropical Asia, Japan, the Ryukyu Archipelago, the greater and lesser Sunda isles, the Philippines and Sulawesi. In the west it extends into Iraq, Iran, Armenia and Turkey. It has been accidentally introduced into Florida in the USA.

Male Scarlet Skimmer