toy copter
A dragon fly, sunning itself on the stone wall beside the main (large) pool of the main garden in Mt Annan Botanical Gardens. Extreme provocation was needed to unseat this insect who, it seemed, was quite happy to sit through 20 or more flash bursts, just to warm itself up.
I realise this is a living organism, but honestly, it does look like a childs R/C toy copter. To be honest, despite being efficient hunters and magnificently proficient aeronauts, dragon flies do seem as though they were put together in a hurry (quickly mass produced in a factory, ready for the Christmas silly season). Big red fire-engines, with wings, and teeth. They seem to lack that “Finished” quality of other insects, and yet as fierce preditors, they have survived and not needed to evolve a smoothness of lines as have other, less successful insects.
Mt Annan Botanical Gardens
Sunday 19th July 2009, 1:30pm.
Canon EOS 40D.
Aperture Priority: 1/250sec, f/16, ISO-200.
Ring Flash.
Sigma 150(240)mm 1:1 macro lens.
RAW processed in Lightroom.
3426×2284 (cropped from 3888×2592) 1:1 x Lifesize.
toy copter belongs to the following groups:
Birds and Creatures of Flight, Bug Hunt! (with Location please), Butterflies, Skippers, Moths, & Other Winged Insects (2 a Day), Colour Me Vibrant Red!, Dragonflies, Extreme Close-Ups, Eye Macros, Nature's Wonders, Top Shelf Wildlife & Nature Art and Vibrant and Vivid Color Available for sale asGreeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints and Framed Prints

CapturedByKylie
Looks like “she’s” had botox injections to get those big pouty lips too! LOL
Peter Martin replied
Hi Kylie – that’s two of these big red fire-engines with wings that I’ve seen with big pouty lips – must be a congenital thing.
The thing that gets me with these is they do indeed have EYES EVERYWHERE, yet they are quite happy to sit at 20cm away while some clutz fumbles with a camera and takes about 50 photos of it.
They know they’re THAT GOOD at getting away, they just don’t care. Their confidence is almost unsettling in some ways…
Vanessa Barklay
Fantastic image, great insects indeed! There is a Dragonflies group :O)
Vanessa Barklay
Please check Bug Hunt! page to see it displayed! :O)
Peter Martin replied
Thanks for the spotlight – that looks really cool!! =)
Scott d'Almeida
awesome ideal
Peter Martin replied
thanks Scott!
Sharona
Amazing macro Peter.
Peter Martin replied
thanks Sharona
naturelover
Peter Martin replied
Wow THANKS for the Feature!! =))
FailingMemory
Amazing, I haven’t seen this variety. All the one’s I’ve seen disappear as soon as a camera comes out. I guess I’ve not got up early while they are cold.
Peter Martin replied
Thanks ‘FailingMemory’. It was a sunny 1:30PM – I think this guy was just buggered after a lot of flying and chasing other insects and needed a quick break – when he finally took off, he took off at speed, so maybe he just had things on his mind, or maybe he was teasing me.
hopelilly
what a lovely creature, never seen one that colour before.
Peter Martin replied
Thanks ‘HopeLilly”.
Christophe Testi
Great macro!
Peter Martin replied
Thanks Christophe
Rick Fin
Congratulations on your feature/spotlight Peter! Head & eyes sharply in focus and nice perspective. The texture of the ground looks great too.=)
Peter Martin replied
Thanks Rick – can’t wait to see yours of the same
Tracy Faught
Don’t know how I missed this one Peter! So beautiful! Congrats once again on you feature! :]
Peter Martin replied
thanks Tracy =)
BigD
Excellent close up
Peter Martin replied
Thanks Big D
Tenee Attoh
Excellent shot!!!
Peter Martin replied
Thanks Tenee
Lisa Weber
Peter Martin replied
Thanks Lisa =)
Tenee Attoh
What a fantastic shot, great work.
Peter Martin replied
Thanks Tenee =)
Eva and Klaus ...
WoW!
Wonderful shot!
Peter Martin replied
Thanks very much Eva and Klaus
Roka
Amazing!
Peter Martin replied
thanks Roka
Jellybean720
WOW.. I just love there eyes.. never seen a red one.. Great Capture and Congratulations on your feature :))
Peter Martin replied
Thanks JellyBean
Peter Martin replied
thanks JellyBean – yep these ones certainly are vivid and not as colour subdued as the bluey-green ones
Edge-of-dreams
This is amazing – never seen a red one before!
Peter Martin replied
Thanks Mia (I looked it up on your site, and it’s shorter)
TrixiJahn
Fantastic!!!
Peter Martin replied
thanks TrixiJahn
danita clark 19 days ago
WOnderful photo !
Peter Martin replied 19 days ago
thanks Danita
horsegoggles 18 days ago
This is a spectacular photo.
Peter Martin replied 18 days ago
thanks horsegoggles :)
D. AMO 2 days ago
WOW! decided to check out RED, for some December stimulation…AND! MY! Your lovely dragonfly caught my eye FOCUS from the shock of ALL that glorious RED! Thanks so much for the visual aqnd mental information! Deluxe! CHRISTMAS IN JULY! Love the eternal black dot in (the?) left eye!
Peter Martin replied 2 days ago
thanks D