On a recent trip to my parents summer place, I had a few photo goals in mind:
To photograph
1. The eagle
2. The Bubbling Spring
3. The full moon
4. The ducks & loons
5. The dragonflies
I was successful in all except for the dragonflies...although there were, at times 20 or more around me, they never were still enough to get an acceptable shot. One little guy even spent an hour teasing me flying back and forth, but never landing. This behavior frustrated me to no end. Why, oh why, couldn't they just cooperate. After spending vast amounts of time and energy trying to capture these elusive little creatures, I will admit that I gave up.
On the way back home (a 4 hour drive), the kids and I stopped at our favorite "rest stop" in Milo, Maine. It's a little park with a gazebo along the river. They also have floating docks for boats and the kids love to play on them. As we walked out on the docks we noticed darning needles flying around and some other critters swimming happily about amongst the lilypads. I sat down to take some pictures of the darning needles, when lo and behold a little dragonfly starts flying around me. I sort of brushed it off thinking that he was just going to tease me again, so I didn't bother to try and capture a shot of him. This little guy wouldn't hear of it. He swarmed around then landed right next to me on the dock, facing me as if saying, "here I am...take my picture."
Needless to say, the dragonfly and I had a great photo shoot and I feel that once it was done we both left satisfied. Looking back, my lesson in this is that sometimes we have to wait, be patient, and be still to be successful. :) Or, when the time is right, what you seek will be found. Thanks little dragonfly for reminding me of this.
