I took this last August in California. I used the Canon 90D 100-400 ii with the 1.4x extender. That put this at 560mm and I had it open wide at F/8 1/500 ISO 400. I picked the photo where this guy was at a tilt instead of straight with the plant. Insects are a favorite of mind so I am looking for advice when I go shooting again when they return. I think this one did well overall but I always welcome advice and comments which is why I joined NPN for a while now.
You did very well getting a nice composition and great detail in the dragon fly. I have no suggestions or advice, you handled it perfectly.
Beautiful shot, Dean. I too love the composition, and with the DF at an angle of the stock he is on. I just love his colors, and the design on his body reminds me of southwestern designs. I might would try dimming the highlights a little on the DF itself. Still a very nice image as presented.
Dean: This is excellent. The position of the DF in the frame and its orientation is dynamic. Your plane of focus management is also spot on, especially at this aperture. I also like the OOF stems in the BG that provide a good environmental reference without being a distraction. Overall this rates an A+ and many kudos. 
>=))>
Thanks @Patricia_Brundage, @Shirley_Freeman, and @Bill_Fach ll. That tells me what I wanted to know when the season in AZ returns. We do not have many areas of water. It will see if I can lower the hi-lights more. The tail was really bright on the right side so I used in Lightroom C the adjustment brush with auto mask on and just lowered the exposure. I only did the tail so might try the same on the body and head. Thanks for the suggestion.
FYI only using Lightroom Classic there is a A and B setting and I use B when I need a small auto mask brush, when holding down the / key that switches from A to B which is nice when selecting a large area and switching the the auto mask with a smaller brush near the edges.
Dean: While it may be a little impractical when shooting insects that are moving around and for which you might need as much SS as you can get, using a polarizer can knock down some of those highlights in the capture. With dragonflys which often return to a particular perch I’ll often sacrifice some ISO to get the SS up when using a polarizer. For me personally I prefer to get as much out of the original capture as possible so that my processing is minimized. >=))>
Totally agree @Bill_Fach. I will try a polarizer, I have a really good one. Never tried a ND filter, I have 3 slim ones, do you think that might work as well. It was a really bright sunny day
I have learned that watching when I get to a site for a while pays off. You are right about dragonflies returning. Almost always I am on a tripod with dragonflies and just wait for them to return. I take some test shots of the plant they return to first, of course the dragonfly needs to get in the right position. This dragonfly sat there a long time moving around, I was focused on him for 15 minutes or so.
I found at the shore of a pond or lake is perfect because I can get closer to them in a grassy shoreline.
Interestingly the bees do that do. I have actually seen the same bee keep coming back to the same flower 10-15 minutes apart. The broken wing shape was how I knew it was the same bee. I see a flower sometimes and know a bee will land there, one time I waited 30 minutes and finally a bee landed exactly how I wanted her to be. Photography is very relaxing, that is for sure.
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Dean, this is as good as it gets when it come to a dragonfly photo, with the df perfectly sharp and perched in interesting surroundings. Yes a polarizer might tone down the highlights a bit, but you can also do that in processing using a luminosity mask to burn-in the brightest highlights, however, I’m not sure if Lightroom lets you create luminosity masks and process through them. (I do all of that in Photoshop.)
Great idea @Mark_Seaver. I know how to do that in photoshop. I I will give that a try