Leftover Cobras

At least 11 Cobra Clubtail dragonflies (Gomphurus vastus) were spotted during a photowalk with Michael Powell in Fairfax County, Virginia USA, including 10 females and one male. This blog post features photos of female No. 3 and No. 9.

No. 3

You know, some photos are better left on the cutting room floor. Like the first photo. At an aperture of f/5.6, the depth-of-field is too shallow to show both the head (soft) and tail (sharp) in focus.

Also, I think buttery soft bokeh looks better in the background than the foreground — the blurry light green grass stem in the lower-left corner would cause me to reject this photo nine times out of 10. In this case, I tried to “will” the photo to be good enough to use because I love the dew-covered vegetation.

Notice this individual’s battle-scarred wings. That’s a lot of wear and tear on a dragonfly that emerged relatively recently. She’s a survivor and you have to admire that!

08 JUN 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | Cobra Clubtail (female)

No. 9

The following photo was shot at an aperture of f/6.3 for more depth-of-field. The head looks better in this photo than the last one, but “pixel peepers” will notice it’s a little soft.

On the other hand, I like the colors and textures of the vegetation enough that this photo gets a passing grade.

08 JUN 2020 | Fairfax County, VA | Cobra Clubtail (female)

Copyright © 2020 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Tags: Cobra Clubtail dragonfly, Family Gomphidae (Clubtails), female, Gomphurus vastus