I photographed this male Widow Skimmer Dragonfly on one of my walks near the Ouachita National Forest here in Arkansas. I’m not good with identifying Dragonflies, so I hope I got this one correct. Theses are large Dragonflies that are common in this area.
Widow Skimmer Facts
- The Widow Skimmer male is territorial, like most other dragonflies, and can patrol vast areas in search of females and chase other males off.
- The female usually lays her eggs in shallow ponds or lakes. (There is a pond nearby where I was walking.)
- The male has white spots on the wings (as shown in my photograph) ; these spots are missing from the female.
How I Got The Shot – Widow Skimmer Dragonfly
I go on a lot of photo walks during the summer here in Arkansas. I have a place that butts up against the Ouachita National Forest and I like walking the National Forest roads in this area. On my way to one of these forest roads I came across this Dragonfly, and I was able to photograph it.
I was hand holding my Canon EOS 7D Mark II Camera with the Canon EF 100 – 400 mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II lens. I was shooting in aperture priority mode (AV) with a shutter speed of 1/800 of a second at f5.6 and the ISO at 800. White Balance set on auto. I was using single point, continuous auto focus with evaluative metering.