The red dragonfly sits carefully on his perch scanning for the flight pattern of his prey. His sharp eyes are genetically tuned for certain movements and he can see in almost a full circle. His powerful wings are like loaded springs waiting for the pull of a trigger. The mosquito rises up from the water’s surface and the dragonfly feels his feet leave the leaf as his wings engage the humid air. From his perspective the world seems to be in slow motion. The blink of a human eye is three hundred milliseconds but the dragonfly’s reaction time is only fifty milliseconds as he closes in on his prey. The mosquito seems to be frozen in time as the dragonfly maneuvers through the reeds. In truth, I had my camera in burst mode and the dragonfly completely vanished between frames. Yes, they’re that fast. It’s said by scientists that a dragonfly can fly at sixty miles per hour. And my observation is that they can go from zero to sixty in less than a second. While hunting they can even fly upside down in order to catch those nasty mosquitos. By comparison, a hummingbird flies at thirty miles per hour and can only reach sixty miles per hour by diving straight down while flapping their wings as hard as they can. ( Which is something hummingbirds do as part of their mating ritual. ) But I suppose that twice the number of wings means twice the speed. Much like hummingbirds dragonflies incorporate their whole body into their aerobatics. By changing the angle of their body they change the traction that their wings generate and can even turn around 360° in mid flight. Engineers are actually studying how dragonflies maneuve in order to create more efficient drones. In terms of scale speed a human being would pass out from the G forces that a dragonfly produces while just hunting. Even though I didn’t catch it on camera that sudden stop when the dragonfly returned to his favorite perch was as equally impressive as the flight.
The appearance of the dragonflies marks the midsummer page of my natural calendar and while I enjoy all of the varieties of dragonflies I think that the red ones are my favorite.
Good night friends and be blessed throughout your days.
Announcement 2.0
For those who have been following me on Facebook and know of the struggle content providers have to get circulation from big tech I’ve been recommending for people to adopt MeWe as a social media platform. One of the problems I’ve run into on MeWe is that people don’t know how to navigate the platform. So to help with that I’ve created a permanent page on my website as a basic Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe I’ve tried to anticipate all basic questions there and You can bookmark the page to have as a reference and if you have any questions or suggestions don’t hesitate to contact me. I do still have a day job and I help admin several pages on both platforms so replies might be a little slow but I will answer you.
We also have the Lloyd’s Lens Photography Discussion Group on MeWe that is set up as a fully functional community. There you’ll not only be able to see and connect with me but you can also make your own posts and interact with each other.
I want you to join my group on MeWe: https://mewe.com/join/lloydslensphotographydiscussiongroup
Click the link below to jump to the Basic Beginner’s Guide To MeWe.https://lloydslensphotographyllc.com/guide-to-mewe/embed/#?secret=GJGnIQEVHc
Hey Friends! Just a quick reminder that Lloyds Lens Photography is available for portraits!
To book me simply reach out using the Contact Page and we’ll set a date. If you’re within a 50 mile radius of Summersville West Virginia all travel fees are waived.
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Have you checked out the Zazzle Store?
I’m now using Zazzle to fulfil orders. What this means for you is a secure way to place an order, discount codes & a broader product selection! Simply use the contact form on my websiteand tell me which image you want and I’ll reply with a direct link to where you can place the order.
LLOYD'S LENS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC 