I have this pond that I visit frequently, and it has a wide diversity of dragonflies. One of them (which I have yet to photograph and figure out what species it is) soars over the water and flies in unpredictable patterns. I have never observed it perching despite watching it for long periods of tim…

If you want to take pictures of a dragonfly in flight, a high shutter speed(well lit area implied) and using manual focus are probably your best bet. Take a lot of pictures in bursts as the dragonfly flies by and a few of them may be identifiable

I’ll keep this in mind- I still have to figure out my camera a bit, as I rely (maybe a bit too much) on the auto mode…

Welcome to the forum! I had that exact same problem recently when photographing around ponds. One of the dragonfly species there would just refuse to land so the only way to get pictures was to catch them in flight. Besides trying to use as fast a shutter speed as possible (full sun helps, higher IS…

On more than one occasion, I’ve shot 50+ pics of a flying dragonfly that never wanted to perch, managing to get maybe one shot that was in focus, that I could crop, and was identifiable. It can be frustrating. The saddlebags (Tramea) and clubskimmers (Brechmorhoga) can be aggravating that way, but …

if you watch them for a while, sometimes you can notice a spot they come back to hover over (males of some species will guard prime egg-laying territory, for example). other times they fly past a certain spot often. i try and point my camera at one of those places, get a higher shutter speed ready, …

Have you tried spraying chloroform over the water until it sleeps? Seriously, I think you’ve received some good advice from others above. I employ similar things like shooting big numbers of pics hoping to get one in focus that I can crop and get an ID on. It works, sometimes. I try to pre-focus…

All of the above is good advice. One other thing that sometimes works is coming by just after sunrise, when it is full light but still a bit chilly (depending where in the world you are). They are more likely to be perched at that time.

The answer depends on three factors – your camera equipment and its capabilities, the species involved, and the environment where you are seeing it. You haven’t told us what your camera equipment is, so I can’t comment specifically on that. But depending on how good your autofocus is, you may want…

Photographing dragonflies that refuse to land

Nature Talk

jnstuart June 28, 2021, 11:30pm 2

This thread had some advice:

https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/photographing-dragonflies/17595

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Photographing dragonflies that refuse to land

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