Perchers and Flyers

I like perchers. Dragonflies are divided into two types- perchers and fliers. Perchers are dragonflies that have a territory that they'll patrol from a perch, spending quite a bit of time perching and watching. I have many, many pictures of perchers. They're cooperative- if you find a perching species, focus on the perch the dragonfly is on. Even if it leaves, most of the time it will patrol a territory and return to it or a nearby perch. That allows you to let the camera autofocus and get sharp shots.

Fliers, on the other hand, never stop moving unless it's dark and they find some place to perch, usually up in a tree where they're (1) impossible to see and (2) it's too dark to shoot anyway. As I was doing some dishes in the kitchen today I looked out at the pond and noticed we had a visitor- this Shadow Darner, a species that has visited the pond in the Fall for the last few years. This darner is a flier, which means it never stops moving. It took me about 40 shots, using manual focus (an interesting exercise), to get this shot, which was barely in focus. As an interesting note, as I was trying for the shot another darner came in and there was a brief dogfight before the other darner departed.