One of the attributes of humanity is that we are the only creature aware that we live life in two dimensions. We can observe and think about all the creatures that swim, all the creatures that fly, and know that they not only live life in three dimensions but have senses we don’t have so they can cope with that.

Dragonflies, I’ve mentioned before, are territorial, and occasionally hover in place to stake out a… hmm, a piece of air, I guess. Well, a volume of space: They want other dragonflies to know what area they’re protecting. If you get to know a dragonfly or two, you can start to predict where in three-dimensional space they will routinely stop, and, with that in mind, you can set up your exposure settings to get, with plenty of patience, a pretty good shot of a dragonfly nearly frozen in that spot when they return. A shutter speed of 1/1,500th of a second still wasn’t quite fast enough to freeze those wings. And there’s no need to think about how many failed shots I had to take to get this keeper. I will take the victory lap on this shot.

July 23, 2016. Cropped from a larger image. Nikon D7100 (DX sensor), Nikon 70–300mm lens at 300mm (35mm equivalent: 450mm), f/8, 1/1,500, ISO 1,600.