While places to our south have had dragonflies flying about, and probably to a lesser extent here also, it is now getting warm enough here to see them regularly and a first time for me to make some photographs. This past Monday at Moosehorn Pond I saw dozens of these Chalk-fronted Corporals-Ladona julia flying about and I imagine that’s a sign that someone laid quite a few eggs that successfully hatched.
It isn’t as long as it appears to be as the abdomen looks extended because of the shadow created by a sun rather high in the sky. I tagged this as a closeup but actually was far away (probably 12-15 feet) and using the 100-400×2 to get this shot.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
Yours is the second mention I’ve come across this morning of using a telephoto with extender in lieu of a macro lens to photograph a dragonfly. You were fortunate that the plane of the dragonfly’s body and wings lay parallel to the camera’s sensor.
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Fortunate indeed. But at this distance there isn’t much of an angular difference from the top to the bottom of the dragonfly so not nearly as difficult as being within a foot with a macro lens. But parallelism is a goal in making these images.
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Very nice Steve! Great dragonfly image!
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Thanks, Reed!
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Superb photograph!
This is a species we don’t have in our area, so it’s great to see this one.
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Thanks, Wally! Glad to show you a new species. You do that for me with nearly all your shots.
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I was all set to be super impressed on how you got that dragonfly to sit still as you crept up to it with a macro lens on a tripod. Still, nice results, especially with a 2x.
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I won’t pass up an easy catch, Dave. 🙂 Maybe Monday’s shot (the 13th) will impress as I had to crawl on my knees in wet mud and grass, still with a tripod at its lowest, for that capture with my 180 macro.
I continue to be impressed with the quality of sharpness the combination of Tamron 100-400 and its doubler provide.
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Great shot! I’ve started to see the odd dragonfly checking out our pond but I really need some good perches for them – then I might have a chance to try photographing one. This colouring looks very different to any that I’ve seen over here.
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Thanks, Ann! There is such incredible and beautiful diversity among insects. Some are just drab and nondescript but others so colorful and lovely.
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It was interesting you mentioned the length as I was thinking the same thing as I noticed some of the length was shadow. Very neat effect, though.
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The sun was getting pretty high. Most every frame I shot had the shadow so I processed the file to separate it from the abdomen just a bit. Thanks.
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