Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

18th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
mating dragonflies

Every year in June these kind of dragonflies catch my eye: At first sight they appear to be almost black, but in the right light the black turns into a magnificent blue. I spent a few hours at a river near Jena, Germany, this year to finally catch them on camera. I didn't realize what this picture was about until I looked at it at home on the computer - dragonflies are fast at everything.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 06.2020
Date Uploaded: 11.2020
Photo Location: Jena, Germany
Copyright: © Meike Gleiß