An orange dragonfly smiles sweetly for the camera.

I was so excited when I shot this photograph! I’ve had these beautiful orange dragonflies visit my California garden for years, flying over my small ponds and repeatedly dipping their abdomens into the water (I’m guessing my periodic visitors have been females laying eggs, as the egg and nymph stages of dragonfly life are aquatic). Usually by the time I race inside to grab my camera, my dragonfly visitors have departed.

One day I happened to look out the window and I noticed a dragonfly sitting on a branch next to my larger pond. I ran around inside, quickly grabbing my camera and changing lenses before I eased open the sliding glass door and slipped outside. The dragonfly seemed quite unconcerned as I slowly moved closer, and allowed me to take this photograph. When I viewed it later, I realized that the…