In recent years, bionic micro air vehicles have garnered significant attention. Compared to other insects and birds, dragonflies exhibit unique flight capabilities, making them one of the best bionic prototypes. To better understand the flight characteristics of dragonflies and to delve into their flapping aerodynamics, this study investigates the kinematic parameters of dragonflies during escape flight (climbing) and normal flight (forward flight). Using four synchronously triggered high-speed cameras, the motion of the dragonflies was tracked and captured, followed by system calibration, feature point matching, and 3D reconstruction. Analysis revealed that dragonflies utilize a figure-8 wingtip trajectory during both climbing and forward flight. The intersection of the trajectory occurs near the pronation phase, which helps generate higher lift and thrust. During forward flight, the phase difference between the forewings and hindwings is smaller compared to climbing, with the downstroke occupying approximately 24% more of the flapping cycle during forward flight than climbing. Additionally, the results indicate that dragonflies do not maintain a fixed linear flight path in either state but exhibit periodic changes in the pitch angle. Climbing requires greater pitch angles and variations in pitch angle compared to forward flight to achieve higher lift.