Sitting Pretty by myautofocuslife

Sitting Pretty

A damselfly was sitting prettily on a blade of grass, so I shot it. 8D

You can tell damselflies and dragonflies apart if you look carefully. At rest, most damselflies will have their wings pressed together and held over the back. Dragonflies mostly hold their wings flat and out, to the sides, like an airplane. Also, a dragonfly's eyes are big and joined at the top. Damselflies have eyes that are separated, at the sides of the head.

I never knew these things, until my interest in macro photography and bugs!
So true - very pretty and elegant. And I don't think that about all insects :-). Beautiful shot full of wonderful colors and details.
June 5th, 2012  
Wonderful shot! Great focus and details. Great color and lines!
June 5th, 2012  
gorgeous focus and DOF!!! LOVE the vibrant green!
June 5th, 2012  
I never knew there was a difference, or such things as a damselfly. Are they within the same family? Great capture. Awesome color.
June 5th, 2012  
@losthorizon Not the same family but damselflies and dragonflies do belong to the same insect order which is Odonata. 8)
June 5th, 2012  
Beautiful Livia
June 5th, 2012  
Beautiful shot .... Did not know their story either thanks for sharing
June 5th, 2012  
Isn't it amazing what photography does to one! I find that I look at mundane everyday things differently and find myself wondering how to photograph them :-)
June 5th, 2012  
beautiful!!! I love the red and green colours.
June 5th, 2012  
Just Incredible Livia! : )
June 5th, 2012  
Fantastic. Love the triangle of the tail of the fly and the leaf.
June 5th, 2012  
Thanks Livia. Very cool
June 5th, 2012  
If I fav you pic I like to fav I have 198 pic`s to fav.
June 5th, 2012  
Beautiful
June 5th, 2012  
Exquisite!
June 5th, 2012  
Excellent shot! Love the color. Thank you for the info - I did not know how to tell them apart.
June 5th, 2012  
Great capture, love the details & colours :)
June 5th, 2012  
Another amazing insect macro from you! You inspired me for my own shot today.
June 5th, 2012  
I have no idea how you get these shots Livia. I've tried to get damselfies but they're too darned quick xx
June 5th, 2012  
Beautiful picture!
June 5th, 2012  
Great shot. DoF is spot on.
June 5th, 2012  
Awesome detail, great dof and composition! What kind of camera do you use, Livia? You have some of the most amazing macro shots on 365!
June 5th, 2012  
Great shot and thanks for explaining the difference!!
June 5th, 2012  
What a pretty little damsel! Was she in distress? Well taken and explained Livia. Now if you could teach a class on macro photography to a fellow auto focuser:).
June 5th, 2012  
Awesome damselfly. Your focus is spot on!
June 5th, 2012  
Wow, so beautiful! Love the composition.
June 5th, 2012  
nice closeup
June 5th, 2012  
Great macro!
June 5th, 2012  
and damsel flies are soooo tiny and very hard to photograph. you got a great shot of this pretty damselfly!
June 5th, 2012  
Now you got me to thinking , don't believe I have ever seen a damsel fly, but now I will start looking , that I know what to look for... thank you for info, and a real nice find and good information!
June 5th, 2012  
Amazing capture of such a tiny subject. Fav
June 5th, 2012  
Fantastic capture
June 5th, 2012  
Its almost like a delicate quill, poised so dantily. Another beautiful shot and explanation.
June 5th, 2012  
Really nice shot of a damselfly, damselflys are just wonderfull as are dragon flys which i hope to get at shot of one day. Do youknow what type of damselfly it is?
June 5th, 2012  
fantastic image, very interesting the details, another beautiful shot
June 5th, 2012  
beautiful capture!
June 5th, 2012  
Wonderful capture. I didn't know the difference. I guess this is a silly question but are damselflies the female or are the two totally different kinds of flies.
June 5th, 2012  
you have a gift! great capture :)
June 5th, 2012  
Beautiful!
June 5th, 2012  
Another brilliant macro !!
June 5th, 2012  
Lovely capture, Livia. Having eyes either side of the head must make for difficult vision.
June 5th, 2012  
I've been looking for bugs to photograph. We just dont have cool ones like you.
June 6th, 2012  
Gonna have to start calling you the "bug lady" - another excellent comp Livia.
June 6th, 2012  
Interesting info! I would have passed that off as a dragonfly :D
June 6th, 2012  
I agree, very interesting info! and great shot of course!
June 6th, 2012  
Wow - fantastic catch! Great detail - love it!
June 6th, 2012  
Wow! Gorgeous shot!
June 6th, 2012  
Great detail!
June 6th, 2012  
fantastic detail!
June 6th, 2012  
Awesome shot
June 6th, 2012  
Love the colors and details.
June 6th, 2012  
Livia, I bow to you....you ARE the Queen of Macros! :-)
June 6th, 2012  
I agree with Patty you have our macro s_ _ _ together!! You are on a roll.
June 6th, 2012  
Nicely captured...I've been trying to shot a close-up of them by the pond...they are to fast for me!
June 6th, 2012  
Stunning closeup,great colors and details.well done.
June 6th, 2012  
interesting! so when they fly, do their wings go out to the sides like the others do?
June 6th, 2012  
Wow--amazing capture. And you are the queen of macros!!! This is a fav.
June 6th, 2012  
I'm learning with you! Beautiful!!!
June 6th, 2012  
O wow..this one is lovely! Thanks for throwing light on the difference between the two! New to me!
June 6th, 2012  
fave - absolutely beautiful
June 6th, 2012  
Fabulous details.
June 6th, 2012  
I love your bugs. I always learn something too. Well shot...and researched
June 6th, 2012  
Always great shots and always stuff to learn from you Livia :)
June 6th, 2012  
@calm For macro shots, I use my Sony NEX-C3 (mirrorless interchangeable lens camera) with the Sony 30mm f/3.5 macro lens. If you want to get a macro lens, get one with a longer focal length. The shorter the focal length, the closer you have to be to your macro subject. (I dread shooting spiders at close range. XD )

@amandalomonaco *LOL* I'm not qualified to teach anything! But I'm still on autofocus and will always be. All my macro shots are taken with the autofocus. (I do adjust the aperture though, to make sure I get enough light into the lens.) 8)

@socalgal @sailingmusic *LOL* I'm the queen of cluelessness! I don't even shoot in manual mode!

@vernabeth Damselflies and dragonflies are completely different insects. 8)
June 6th, 2012  
they are just stick thin! great macro Livia!
June 6th, 2012  
@vickisfotos Yes they do, so it's hard to tell a damselfly from a dragonfly when they're flying. 8)

@psychographer I was lucky! When I see them flying around, I don't bother, so I only look for the ones that are already resting. And then I squat, and try to creep up on them very slowly. (It's a good thing I'm almost always alone when I shoot. I can just imagine an on-looker bursting into laughter to see me doing this. 8D )
June 6th, 2012  
@esox I'm so sorry, I have no idea what type of damselfly this is. I've tried googling but I just got very confused looking at all the different pictures and information. 8/ I hope you get your dragonfly shot soon! 8)
June 6th, 2012  
another excellent Shot Livia! I just learn so much from you! I didnt have any interested in birds untill i got on 365 or bugs for that matter! but as soon as i got my macro lens a whole new world came into focus! I love your work it inspires me! :)
June 6th, 2012  
Fabulous shot!
June 6th, 2012  
I needed the info, thanks! It's magic...fav
June 6th, 2012  
what a stunning capture.
June 6th, 2012  
excellent capture! Love the colours, diagonal line and fascinating info! Hopefullly I'll be able to remember it and tell them apart in future!
June 6th, 2012  
that's a neautiful shot of a beautiful bug, so very streamlined
June 6th, 2012  
Magnificent capture. She looks so sleek (perhaps she is on a diet haha)
June 6th, 2012  
Lovely
June 6th, 2012  
Very cool, love the colours =) I always wonder how you spot these great bugs.....only things i ever see are wasps, bee's and ants! =)
June 6th, 2012  
Looks lie it could be a Transformer
June 6th, 2012  
Livia you are the dragon fly master! this is just fantastic!
June 6th, 2012  
Wow awesome!!
June 6th, 2012  

Beautiful picture... Love the colors, POV and the contrast in this picture.
June 6th, 2012  
Very beautiful and damselflies can be very hard to photograph so excellent image!
June 6th, 2012  
I did not know that info either..until last summer when I started 365. I know dragonflies are bigger and I used to dream of a good dragonfly pic, but our dragons are so brown and dull here. and hard to get close to even with my zoom and they always land on the dock cables so the pic always looks the same. I love Damselflies....they are blue, metallic light green, red...and I can catch them in some different places and positions. So they are my favorite now. Good shot! I don't see red here much..
June 6th, 2012  
Lovely shot.
June 6th, 2012  
Wow! I have a hard time taking a shot of a damselfly! and this one is gorgeous! FAV!
June 6th, 2012  
A very nice shot..so beautiful and his color shows well on the green.
June 6th, 2012  
@myautofocuslife Thanks, Livia. I am in the market for a camera upgrade and not sure what I want to purchase yet. I realize the skill of the photographer makes a big difference, too! You are a master!
June 6th, 2012  
Fabulous capture of a beautiful creature! Fav
June 6th, 2012  
Wow, I think you have learned a lot through your interest in macro and insects. Couldn't tell the difference and would be so happy to find any of it no matter what it is called ;)). Great pov and vibrant colour!
June 6th, 2012  
ALL of your close up shots of insecties are amazing, detailed, clarity and inspiring. Keep up the wonderful work.
June 6th, 2012  
Fabulous shot! I'm learning so much from your commentary too!
June 6th, 2012  
Super macro.
June 6th, 2012  
Ami
Nice bit of info and a very beautiful macro! :) Like the depth and focus!
June 6th, 2012  
This is terrific. It is on my 365 bucket list to get one of these. Great job you!
June 6th, 2012  
Nice shot Livia...they are so delicate looking it's hard to believe their as carnivorous as dragonflies!
June 6th, 2012  
Awesome capture livia!
June 6th, 2012  
Took me ages to get to the bottom of the comments list.. phew I am worn out now.. How i can i say anything that no one has said.. if it was FB i would hit the liike button :) but i love this :)
June 6th, 2012  
Love the colors! Just beautiful!
June 6th, 2012  
You are doing some amazing things with your macro!! I love all the clarity here!! FAV
June 7th, 2012  
you ought to write a book, you know :) this is another wonderful macro... i don't think i've ever seen one of thes before!
June 7th, 2012  
A great, big, pretty, sleek, brightly-colored "THANK YOU!" to all for taking the time to stop by! I'm learning something every day, taking shots of little bugs and trying to identify them with online resources, and I'm happy to share that information. Thank you so much for your supportive visits and comments. I am grateful. 8)
June 7th, 2012  
gorgeous shot!!
June 7th, 2012  
Fantastic shot! fav! Your insect shots are awesome!
June 7th, 2012  
You're truly amazing at capturing these shots!! Brilliant job, Livia!
June 8th, 2012  
Awesome
June 9th, 2012  
Unbelievably good!! Well done.
June 10th, 2012  
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