I STOOD STILL LIKE A STATUTE, TAKING PICTURES OF DRAGON FLIES -HABEEB Kayode Yahaya (jaypee-d-poet).

Have you ever tried taking pictures of a roaming dragon fly? Well, here is my true life story.

On the 8^th of April, 2020, when almost all the cities and towns all over the globe are  still on lockdown because of the  pandemic Corona virus outbreak, I received a boring visitor, his name is boredom and he really bored the hell out of me, well! (that is what he does for a living, no offense taken).

It was around 11 A.M, my Nikon D3100 DLSR camera was romantically staring at me to pick her up. So, I picked her up and stepped out of the room into the compound.

The first question that came to my mind as I held my camera like it was a pistol was ‘what am I going to shoot today?’  Before I could answer the question, two dragon flies which were roaming around a spot in the compound caught my attention. One had an elegant touch of red while the other, black with an artistic stripes of brown. My intuition must be joking, seriously, dragon flies among other things? I quizzed my self. These creatures barely stay put in a spot, they keep flying around like an helicopter with enough fuel to burn. So how the hell am I going to capture them? Eventually, these twins (my intuition and instinct) found a way to convince me. So I embarked on the mission to shoot dragon flies. You want to know how it ended right? Well, continue reading (you might want to get a chilled drink and popcorn too).

On this day, a 55-200mm zoom lens was the crown that my camera gleefully wore and thankfully, it was very helpful. The dragon flies continued to perch  and fly incoherently between the air and the ground; dribbling around like Messi or C. Ronaldo and I was zealously chasing after them with my camera. It was like a flies-and-faeces romantic relationship (I hope you won’t feel disgusted with this illustration, it is not intended so). One of the dragons flies; the red one, perched on the wall for a while, I was expecting it to take off but it didn’t. I knew it was the perfect time to take its picture but as I was about to click on the shutter button, it flew away. I almost cried but I didn’t. I mean why will I cry because a beautiful red dragon fly was playing hide and seek with me?

Finally, I figured out a way to shoot these amazing creatures. There was a particular spot where these flies roamed around. I squatted in the middle of the spot and stayed still like a statute with my finger on the trigger (shutter button) ready with great alacrity to capture the flies the moment they perch. Click! Click! I took some shots but I was not satisfied with them. I wanted a close shot that will bring these colourful dragon flies closer to your eyes (the beautiful eyeballs of the people reading this).

After a while, I was able to get wonderful shots. The pictures are really amazing (check them out below).

I was also able to capture these two dragon flies when they were cuddling and courting; having good times (like new couples do on their wedding night). This is not my first time poking my nose photographically into the love affairs of animals. I have  caught some butterflies, lizard, birds in action. Here is a picture of the dragon flies doing their thing.

While I was so engrossed in taking the pictures, another dragon fly got invited to the party and honestly, this one was unique, flashy, colourful, and well-dressed. I guess it  is a celebrity in the world of dragon flies; a kind of Wizkid or Tiwa Savage in the planet of dragon flies. Whenever I wanted to take its picture it kept ducking and dodging. Eventually, I was able to take a couple of shots when it elegantly perched on gravel stone (perhaps, that might be its celeb way of taking pictures). Here is the picture.

The party was almost over when I noticed the presence of a bird which had perched on a pipe beside the roof. So I shot it too. It was beautiful memory and I am really glad that I am a photographer.