The Dragonfly

Today was a beautiful day. I went for a stroll by the pond this afternoon and stumbled across some amazing dragonflies.
This was the first time I had the opportunity to photograph a dragonfly with my SLR. Have you ever tried to photograph a dragonfly with a regular point and shoot camera? It's not easy. Dragonflies do not sit still for very long. In the past I would sit very still and when I saw one land I would try to creep up on it as quickly and quietly as I could. If I succeeded I then had to try and get the camera to focus on the dragonfly so I could take a decent shot before it flew away. I hate auto-focus! Here are some pictures I took in Tennessee in 2006 with my Nikon Coolpix 5900.
And here is one taken in Illinois the same year with the same camera. I have a 55-200mm zoom lens for my Nikon D60 SLR camera. I no longer have to spend hours sneaking up on insects! The zoom lens allows me to take nice close up shots from farther away so I don't scare the dragonflies. It also has manual focus. Here are some more of the photos I took today. I love Shooty!