Peek-a-boo, I see you!

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” 

 ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

This morning, I was able to capture some macro photography shots of a dragonfly. All shots were taken with a Canon 80D camera. 

In this first shot, it is as if the dragonfly was playing a game of peek-a-boo with me. It was hiding behind a leaf for a good minute before it turned it's head ever so slightly so I could get a good look at it's face. It was a valiant effort, for it's color blends quite nicely with the leaf that is in front of it. However, it's own curiosity led to it's ultimate defeat in the ever-fun child's game. 

I was also able to get a really good close-up macro shot of the dragonfly from the side. You can see extensive detail of the dragonfly as the morning sun beats down on it's back. Not only is their nice detail on it's eyes and it's furs, but one really cool aspect of the shot is that the wings of the dragonfly produces a sort of "blur" effect on it's hands, even though the wings were not moving at that time. Dragonfly's wings are made up of a thin layer of what is known as "chitin", which gives the wings a translucent effect. You can find thicker layers of chitin on anthropods (spiders, beetles, crustaceans and other similar insects and arachnids) and also some types of fungi. The chitin protects the thin, dark lines on a dragonfly's wings, otherwise known as it's vein structure. 

Here are a couple more shots of the dragonfly from a little more distance:

What a lovely morning to spend in nature. Blessings to you all!

One love,

@jgullinese