I was chasing one of the mosaic darners round and round the little pond where I do a lot of dragon and damselfly hunting, without success as the critter would not settle long enough for me to get on it with the camera, when this pair of Common Green Darners popped up to the ornamental Blue Spruce right in front of me, and right at eye-level. The late September afternoon sun was almost horizontal, picking out every detail and bringing out all the color of the pair. The tree was also right on the close edge of a little bay in the pond, which, though it limited my angle of approach, also put the background, across the bay, well out of focus. Perfect. These are such big dragons that I could easily fill the frame at 840mm equivalent, full optical zoom, without resorting to the digital tel-converter. Even better!

It was one of the members of the Northeastern Odonata group who saw the Christmas ornament connection when I posted it over there. So. Christmas in September. And that is appropriated in more ways than one, as a perched pair of Common Green Darners at eye-level in good light has to be considered a gift by any dragon fancier!

Canon SX40HS. Program with iContrast and –1/3EV exposure compensation. 840mm equivalent field of view. f5.8 @ 1/500th @ ISO 160. Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.