I had several sightings of the brown darner, the Aeshna grandis, one of our largest dragonflies, and probably the hardest to get close to and photograph. Well mostly I only see them flying, and when I finally find one perched, I approch it with such care, trying to avoid scaring it back on the wings. I may succeed on one out of ten attempts.
They have a habit of perching directly on the stem of trees.
The fist picture I've chosen over a similar, where the sun was not obscured by a cloud. I lke the effect of no direct sunshine, although not all of the insect is in focus, as I had to open up the aperture.
Canon 5D, Sigma 180/3.5, uncropped
f/7.1, 160 s, iso 400
I managed to get closer without the brown devil lifting off. Here the sunshine helps to get large DOF, but anyway I went for iso 800, which combined with my monopod, usually get non-shaken pictures.
Canon 5D, Sigma 180/3.5, uncropped
f/16, 1/200 s, iso 800
Attaching a Kenko 1,4 kconverter, and from a different angle.
Canon 5D, Sigma 180/3.5 + 1,4 Kenko, uncropped
f/16, 1/160 s, iso 800
Getting these pictures make me forget the rainy July. This is the first time ever I managed to get real close to a mature male of this impressive species.
cheers
Erland
Hey some great shots as usual Erland. That last one is really awesome! 
