This is only my second attempt at photographing dragonflies and it’s by no means my best photography. I find them quite tricky little characters to focus on as they rarely stay still long enough to capture their detail in full focus. I happened by this dragonfly purely by chance while exploring a local nature reserve in Nottinghamshire a few weeks back, I believe this to be a Common Darter Dragonfly. After my last attempt of photographing a Damselfly, when I spotted this one I wanted a second attempt at photographing these incredible insects, hoping I could capture it in more detail that my previous attempt.

I have been inspired for a little while now by photographer Mike Powell and his amazing photographs of dragonflies. The attention to detail in his photographs of these flighty little characters is superb. I could only wish that my shots were half as good as his.

Next Summer I need to plan to seek out dragonflies in the hope that I can get more practice as photographing them and capturing them in all their glorious detail.