Dragonflies, And The Presence of Water

Photography can be many things.   It can be photojournalism, or, if you prefer, documentary in nature.  Maybe it’s portraiture, perhaps a vehicle  to sell something.   It’s my belief that the main function of this medium I cherish is simple communication, whatever form that make take.  With this post, what you see is the result of an afternoon spent reading a little, but then just observing.   On recent morning walks, my steps have been taking me past a little creek that courses through our Taylor city parks.   Adding to the pleasurable experience has been a Great Egret, gracefully standing in shallow water as I pass.   She doesn’t move much.   My guess is she’s nesting nearby, standing sentry over her family.  With that in mind, yesterday afternoon, fold-up chair, book, water and camera in tow, I sat down near that spot.   Alas, she wasn’t there.  Maybe hers is a morning ritual?  After a while, I decided she wouldn’t make an appearance.  Instead, what began to fascinate me were almost-transparent dragonflies, darting over the gently-flowing water.   Eventually, the pull of image-making dominated, the book set aside.  What I soon  determined was this:  auto-focus doesn’t fare so well with tiny, see-through creatures.  Manual focus was needed to make this work.  Thankfully, my 60-something year-old eyes managed to do okay with that, even with a 300mm lens.  Dragonflies, being what they are, however, didn’t make this easy.  More time passed.  Then I began to notice the flow of the water, the reflection of the blue Texas sky a sweet thing to see.   The first few photos focus (no pun intended) on a tiny winged world, but finish with water.   And a feather floating by.  I didn’t get my egret image this day, but that’s okay.  I communicated a little.