Powdered Dancer orgy

The Powdered Dancer damselflies, a large and unusually robust species with very white thoraxes, have been active in the pool below the millpond dam for several weeks, and these days, I often see them coupled together in the bizarre mating positions that odonates fancy. There's nothing comparable in the Kama Sutra, and if you tried any of these at home, you'd need a quick trip to the chiropractor... or the emergency room. But they work for the Odonata. What doesn't work, for reasons I can't quite explain, is my camera when I try to capture the action. I've tried all sorts of settings, but the Nikon consistently overexposes the white in the Powered Dancer's body, and I can't find the right way to freeze the action and capture detail. I'm still not there yet, but this is getting in the neighborhood. The male damselflies—the ones on top—are OK, but the females have been reduced to something like ripples on the water. I rather like the effect of this portrait of odonate group sex, but maybe the camera is more prudish than the photographer. Maybe there are sensitive scenes it is programmed not to record.