Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa)

Emerald Damselfly

As its name suggests this is a member of the green family of damselflies and it is a common sight right across virtually the whole of the United Kingdom.

The Emerald prefers shallow bodies of still water with plenty of tall grassy vegetation around the margins & adjoining areas.

They may be found on a very wide variety of habitats including bogs, ditches, canals, ponds and lakes.

It can be seen from late June through to September but is at its best in late July and August when they are fully mature and at their most vibrant and colourful.

The females are all green with a thicker abdomen than in the male and have brown eyes. The males are mainly green but have blue segments on the base and tip of their abdomens. They also have striking bright blue eyes.

The Emerald differs from other species in that when at rest it nearly always has its wings spread in the dragonfly type pose; whereas most other damselflies tend to sit with their wings closed and parallel to their bodies.

This open wing stance creates a very small focusing area on the top of the thorax and some DSLR camera's will struggle to auto focus on such a small plane, which can be very frustrating.

Photographic Overview - The Emerald Damselfly

All of my images are taken in handheld mode without the use of any camera support and this overview is written with that in mind. In addition my primary aim is to achieve the whole of the subject in focus, which includes the wing tips.

The Emerald Damselfy differs from most other UK species in that when at rest it spreads its wings, which can be fully open in warmer weather. This renders side on shots almost useless owing to the great depth of field required to achieve complete focus. This effectively means that top down shots are my only real option.

The top of the thorax is the main focusing point and a wide depth of field is required to enable the head, wing tips and tail to be simultaneously sharp. Use a high aperture of perhaps F10 to F14 to achieve this, which on a bright day will still enable hand held photography with a shutter speed of around 1/250 th of a second. Even with this set up achieving overall sharpness of the subject will be challenging.

Pick a still warm day to photograph this species and they like to perch on long grass and sharp images will be impossible to take with swaying stems. That said on windier days they will perch with their wings closed which will enable more traditional shots.

These images were obtained by stealth and patience alone, no other non photographic techniques were used. I hope you have enjoyed browsing and that you'll return again soon.