My Favourite Image A Dining Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator)

A Dining Emperor Dragonfly

I was really pleased with this image of an Emperor Dragonfly in the act of eating a Keeled Skimmer. I was lucky enough to see this female capture its prey on the wing and follow it to a nearby perch, where this close up image was taken.

You can clearly see the mouth parts of the Emperor tucking into the head of the Skimmer. To find a dragonfly devouring such large prey is a rare experience.

This female was so preoccupied with its meal it appeared to be totally unaware of the camera which was only 6 - 8 inches away.

Unusually this image was taken in a shady moment as the sun was obscurred by a cloud. This lead to an aperture of only F6 being selected which permitted a shutter speed of 1/250th second to be used. These settings were within the limits for hand held photgraphy.