The Large Red Damselfly Nymph (Part 2)

After photographing some Large Red Damselfly nymphs at home in my indoor tank with dark leaves as a background, I thought I would try again with some more natural green colours in the form of some pond weed to see if I could get anymore detail and colour in the shots. After preparing the tank earlier in the day and leaving the water to settle, I had a session out in the darkness in the conservatory where the tank was lit up by the LED light that the tank has fitted on the top. I have found in the past that my shots sometimes seem better and more detailed but that may just be wishful thinking on my part. It certainly seems to produce some more intense lighting any way in the tank. Prior to some photography, I watched as they made their way through the weed and blended in brilliantly when they wanted too. I decided on this occasion to introduce another piece of glass to the tank which I put about a quarter of the way along the tank. This made it much easier from a point of view that the subject was confined to the front of the tank and shots would hopefully be a little more easier. I shall post some shots of my set up in the next few days as I have received a few emails about how I achieve the photos and what set up I use. Back to the action and with the glass in place it was definitely easier to take more shots and with some pond weed tight up against the front of the tank, it wasn't long until I had a nymph in place and was clicking away from various angles. I ended up with some pleasing images and I feel that in this light, I have achieved the nice colour and contrast that I wanted to get with the green background and hopefully, some nicely detailed images. These individuals are fully grown now and the wings pretty much formed I expect and it won't be long now until they soon get that urge to want to emerge, its only about 8 / 9 weeks away! I shall return the nymphs back to their original pond and maybe nearer the time, see if I can collect a few to photograph as they emerge. In the mean time, I will continue to see if I can find and collect some more dragonfly and damselfly species that I haven't found yet. I would like to find some local Southern Hawker nymphs but my search so far proves fruitless. Maybe someone reading this living local in east Kent has some in their pond, you never know!!

Large Red Damselfly Nymph Caudal Lamellae

Large Red Damselfly Nymph