Blue Tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans).

Distinctive due to being mainly dark, with a single blue band close to the end of the abdomen, on segment 8.  The 'normal form' female colouration is sometimes replaced with lilac or orange. It is the most common of the county's Odonatids, being adapted to a wide range of habitat types and water conditions, including being the most pollution tolerant, so on occasions will be the only species present. It is a frequent coloniser of garden ponds. The flight period is from the end of May to September.

This photograph was taken using a close up lens filter screwed to the front of my lens, although the magnification of this image would not normally require close up equipment, my relatively cheap lens would not focus close enough for me to fill the frame with the damselfly. I however did use two small flash guns, one each of the lens to allow me to use a small aperture.