Dragonfly Photo-bombers

I found this pretty incredible. Dragonflies photo-bombed my attempt to film this duck from about 300 feet away! If you are using a small device, I’m not sure you will be able to see the dragonflies – so drag out from the center to increase the size. They are pretty much dead-center in the photo.

The second photo is the original. In order to try to identify what species of ducks they were, I cropped and then lightened the pictures. I was shooting through the weeds and at a long distance without using a tripod with late afternoon back lighting from the sun. They were not optimal conditions. But, when I spot something on the pond, I know I need to instantly stop, and act fast or I can spook them.

Once I cropped and lightened the picture, I spotted the Dragonflies in the foreground and apparently in focus! Crazy, cut sort of cool, too!

I was able to determine, based on the white chin strap marking, that the duck is a Wood duck. I’m not sure about the other two ducks, but I’m assuming they are the same.

Here’s another photo with a Dragonfly in the foreground. In this one, it appears as if the duck is wearing a collar. I saw this photo first, and before I realized it was a dragonfly I wondered for a moment if the duck was wearing a tag (I know that they tag geese around the neck.)

I was able to get a few photos that were somewhat in focus, but not until they took off!