11mm Hairy Dragonfly Nymph

With a few spare hours in the week, I decided one evening to have another photography session with the Hairy Dragonfly nymph which now measure 11mm. I spent about an hour watching and photographing this small nymph and trying to capture the detail with the Sigma 150mm macro lens. This is one of the smallest Hairy Dragonfly nymphs I have photographed and it really pushed the lens to its limit. I have included the actual size of the nymph on the first photo so you can appreciate how small it really is. I had been experiencing problems with the lens the past few sessions with the viewfinder going dark and the aperture seemingly sticking but when I took it in to be looked at, they couldn't replicate the problem despite giving it a good number of clicks. I decided to bring it back home and see whether it would continue and duly after about 10 photos, it did briefly stick but since then, I have managed to take a few hundred shots with no problem at all. Hopefully this is the end of the problem and I will have a trouble free season with it. Today, I spent a few hours again in rainy but mild conditions at Westbere Lakes dipping in the dykes where I managed to find 5 Hairy Dragonfly nymphs including 2 near fully grown individuals, c15 Variable / Azure Damselfly nymphs and a brief visit to a friends pond nearby produced a few Large Red Damselfly nymphs along with c10 Broad bodied Chaser nymphs. Most were released back to the water but a few were collected which will give me the opportunity to have a few photography sessions in the week before releasing them back into the pond. 

Hairy Dragonfly Nymph (11mm)