Back in 2010, I was interning in Oklahoma, and decided at the end of my internship to head down to Texas to visit Lee of Worm Salad, who was in my lab when I was in grad school. As we are both fond of insects, reptiles, and cameras, we sought out a local park (I’m no longer sure which one), to look for cooperative photography subjects.
Being Arlington in August, it was ridiculously hot and we didn’t find much, but there were a few nice animals. I didn’t have a macro lens yet, so most of my damselfly shots were not quite in focus, but this female Blue-ringed Dancer (Argia sedula) was fairly cooperative:
As was this teneral (recently emerged) male Powdered Dancer (Argia moesta):
We also saw a blue-form female Powdered Dancer obelisking, but I didn’t get the focus quite right on her.
And here’s a very tiny and incredibly cute fence lizard (Sceloporus sp.).
While photography in a big group doesn’t always work well, I love going out looking for animals with a friend–two people to find cool insects (and spiders, etc.), and not so many people that it’s impossible to take turns creeping up on them with a camera.
(Thanks to the very knowledgeable Jerry Hatfield for the damselfly identifications.)
Nature Odes 
Aww! I remember that lizard. He was a good lizard.
He was! I also remember the safety-tipped prickly pear (which may be a normal part of their life cycle, I guess–I saw one the other day at Chatfield). That was fun, except for the death heat.