Beautiful Butterflies: post your most interesting shots!

[Asher Kelman]

I saw a Nova film on the journeys of the monarch butterfly. It takes 4 generations but it goes in stages from Canada southwards to the USA to Mexico each year! The Mexican town depends economically on their arrival by the millions each october after thousands of miles travel from the USA! The butterflies stay, clothing trees in magnificent color for 5 months! Then they return northward to the USA to mate and multiply for their offspring to continue this amazing cycle.

Butterflies are beautiful delicate creatures that have amazing colors and life styles. Show us you best and when you do, add a word on the where and how of the shot!

This is for any butterfly, just chose your very best.

Asher

This is a dynamic thread, a window on our best photography as are all theme topics. As such, and as time goes on, some pictures will end up in other appropriate threads, a fresh comment will be posted about that picture, for further discussion and you will be notified.

[Tom Robbins]

http://www.pbase.com/salty_one/image/80626414.jpg

Tom Robbins: Great Spangled Fritillary on thistle, June 2007.


Lost Mound Nature Preserve, Canon 1DMKII and 600mm f/4.

Tom

[James Newman]

This was taken at the butterfly pavillion in the Houston Museum of Natural History. It's a great place with butterflies all year round. This one was resting on a vine with a waterfall making a nice background.
James Newman

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l319/jnewmanco1/DSC_4871-1.jpg

James Newman: At the Butterfly Pavilion

[Rachel Foster]

It was hard choosing just one.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x153/annieblues/opf/smallmackmonarch.jpg

[james sperry]

this is a moth, sorry. i don't have any butterflys in my collection so this is as close as i can get :) . got this when i was living in montana. it showed up one day and stayed on my porch for 3 days.


http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n180/strassehase3/moth-1.jpg

[Rachel Foster]

Macro lens?

[John Angulat]

Hi James,
No need to apolgize. I don't think anyone will mind.

Let's consider them "second cousins, twice removed" http://www.openphotographyforums.com/forums/images/icons/icon7.gif

[james sperry]

Macro lens?

actually, i can't remember what i shot this with. it was either a sigma 10-20mm or a canon 18-55mm lense, no converters. i currently do not own a macro lense or any equipment to shoot macro.
if it looks like a macro shot, i guess i did something right .... lol ..... thanks!! ;)

it's actually a BIG moth. i think the span on the wings was around 4" - 5".

[janet Smith]

This one was resting on a vine with a waterfall making a nice background


Hi James - I love your butterfly, such elegant clean simplicity - just beautiful.....

Here's mine - I think it's a Small Tortoiseshell on Verbena in my garden, 100mm macro lens f4 1/800 iso 200


http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa318/JanGlenelg/IMG_0108AcleanSSJS.jpg

[james sperry]

lucky!!

the colors are outstanding in that image, janet. even your copyright flows with it ;)

if i was to find a butterfly, the wings would be closed and it would be on a dead, dried up flower!

[Asher Kelman]

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa318/JanGlenelg/IMG_0108AcleanSSJS.jpg

© Janet Smith "Small Tortoiseshell on Verbena"

lucky!!

the colors are outstanding in that image, janet. even your copyright flows with it ;)

Here I must disagree!

Actually, the name can complement but not fight the picture. Here is crosses over part of one of the softly rendered flowers in the background. That's not so good. Why? The photograph is made up of sections of different rank for our attention. The soft background flowers provide the ambience of the outdoors in which the main subject is set. By crossing one such flower with the signature, one creates a strong point of interest. Points are where eyes stop as we scan a picture. However, this point serves no useful function. All it does is draw the eyes from the key flower and butterfly.

IMHO. I'd pull the text down. The name becomes unsubtle as it is positioned. It should be no more than a balancing light whisper of a flourish.

Asher

[Cem_Usakligil]

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa318/JanGlenelg/IMG_0108AcleanSSJS.jpg

© Janet Smith "Small Tortoiseshell on Verbena"


Here I must disagree!

Actually, the name can complement but not fight the picture. Here is crosses over part of one of the softly rendered flowers in the background. That's not so good. Why? The photograph is made up of sections of different rank for our attention. The soft background flowers provide the ambience of the outdoors in which the main subject is set. By crossing one such flower with the signature, one creates a strong point of interest. Points are where eyes stop as we scan a picture. However, this point serves no useful function. All it does is draw the eyes from the key flower and butterfly.

IMHO. I'd pull the text down. The name becomes unsubtle as it is positioned. It should be no more than a balancing light whisper of a flourish.

Asher
I, too, agree with Asher. An elongated copyright sign is not a guarantee against potential theft of your image Jan. As a matter of fact, it can be perfectly cloned out in less than 15 seconds if one wants to. If you really do want to prevent potential theft, do not post anything on the Internet.

Cheers,

[janet Smith]

Thank you James, glad you liked it...

Hi Cem & Asher

Thank you for your thoughts about the copyright, I'm going to redesign my website soon and will bear in mind your comments.

[fahim mohammed]

James, beautifully and delicately rendered. I have been following your visit to the Texan museums
with a sense of the ' where are these places '. spent 2 months in Texas and never got to see them.

Hope all goes well with you?

Best.

This was taken at the butterfly pavillion in the Houston Museum of Natural History. It's a great place with butterflies all year round. This one was resting on a vine with a waterfall making a nice background.



http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l319/jnewmanco1/DSC_4871-1.jpg

James Newman: At The Butterfly Pavilion

[James Newman]

Thank you Fahim. When you were in Texas did you make it through Houston? I think with it being the 4th largest city in the US it just makes sense, to me anyway, that it has a lot of museums, and yes, some of them are strange and different and maybe a little off the beaten path. My wife and I bought memberships to the Museum of Natural History where this butterfly pavilion is when we first moved here. It is a wonderful museum with many great exhibitions, both permanent and also traveling ones, and gives us a good place to visit when looking for a nice day out of the house. I am planning another trip here in the not too distant future.
All is well as can be expected. Thank you for asking. I am still busy as a beaver looking for my next job. I am staying positive that something good will come along when it is time.
James Newman

[Tom Robbins]

This little guy was photographed while he was perched at an edge of no return -

http://www.pbase.com/image/84054478.jpg

Tom Robbins: Eastern Tailed-blue on goldenrod in Aast Iowa 2007
Canon 1DMKII and 600mm f/4

[Asher Kelman]

Tom,

Thanks for sharing this delicate butterfly. The fringe of its wing are unusual. I guess they they increase the leverage in warmer air perhaps? Or could this make the flying quieter; stealth mode, perhaps? The underside of the wings are so different from the dorsum. I wonder why each of these particulars helps this creature flourish.

What's amazing is that, for all this delicate beauty, really, they are very little different in fundamental design from an elephant. It's just the emphasis on each control switch and a little fussiness here and there!

Magic!

Thanks for sharing,

Asher

[Walt Conley]

While taking a butterfly picture at the Montreal Botanical Gardens, this bee zoned in on the same flower. The butterfly basically bullied the bee off the dinner plate after it landed.


http://www.pbase.com/wconley/image/88513713/original.jpg

Walt Conley: Unwanted dinner companion

[Asher Kelman]

Walt, This is an amazingly hostile activity. I wonder if the bees sting the butterflies or there's nothing ennough of an existential threat! Asher


Tom, that guy so so beautifully colored. I understand that some insects use uv fluorecent lines and marking to guide the pollinators at night. But I'm not sure. These colors are so beautiful and probably has a surival benefit. At first I thought thisd was a picture of a butterfly on the ventral side (tummy) of a voracious caterpillar that will soon eat it. But then those feet seem to be flowers.

Asher

[Nathaniel Alpert]

I don't know its name, not in focus and heavily cropped, but I think it is my best butterfly pic

http://www.bytephoto.com/photopost/data/500/1328MG_0844-butterfly.jpg

[janet Smith]

I don't know its name, not in focus and heavily cropped, but I think it is my best butterfly pic

Hi Nat

Yes it's beautiful, captured the very essence of a butterfly, delicate, dancing, fluttering - lovely!

[Phil Marion]

La Paz Lodge - Costa Rica
30D with 100 mm f2.8 macro - handheld

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4049/4334973725_a9e528664f_o.jpg

[Michael Nagel]

Butterflies - they are lovely, but I rarely manage to take a photo I want to keep.

This is one of the very few:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4849652231_bbaa4c0fcb_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/leclou/4849652231/)
Schmetterling (http://www.flickr.com/photos/leclou/4849652231/)

Best regards,
Michael

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Butterflies - they are lovely, but I rarely manage to take a photo I want to keep.

Hi Michael,

Well this one came out fine. There's usually a lot of trial and error involved, but this butterfly cooperated just fine.

Cheers,
Bart

[Michael Nagel]

Hi Bart,

Thanks, my yield is usually less than 5% for this type of photo...

Best regards,
Michael

[Asher Kelman]

This little guy was photographed while he was perched at an edge of no return -

http://www.pbase.com/image/84054478.jpg

Tom Robbins: Eastern Tailed-blue on goldenrod in Aast Iowa 2007
Canon 1DMKII and 600mm f/4


Tom,

This is a pure delight. It seems like it was lit by a group of magic elves.

Asher

[Asher Kelman]

Phil,

For a handheld picture, you have great eye-hand coordination! Bravo!

[Asher Kelman]

Butterflies - they are lovely, but I rarely manage to take a photo I want to keep.

This is one of the very few:



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4849652231_bbaa4c0fcb_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/leclou/4849652231/)
Schmetterling (http://www.flickr.com/photos/leclou/4849652231/)




Michael,

I missed this one entirely until today! I'm so glad to have discovered it.

Well, most of us have only rare pics we'd want to keep too, but this one is especially rewarding to have succeeded in capturing. It's really an unusually tender fawn color and so delicately set on in flower.

Asher

Do you happen to be able to name this?

[Duke Beattie]

somehow i also missed this thread.. along the lines of one bfly picture. this is probably the one that i like..
http://www.pbase.com/dcbeattie/image/21787898/original.jpg

[Asher Kelman]

somehow i also missed this thread.. along the lines of one bfly picture. this is probably the one that i like..
http://www.pbase.com/dcbeattie/image/21787898/original.jpg

Fabulous get up, this fellow has! The whiskers and that bog eye patch! Incredible and a beauty!

Is that really an eye or just a great marking?

Asher

[Michael Nagel]

Asher - thanks. I have no idea how this butterfly is named.

Best regards,
Michael

[Chris Calohan]

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6036/6333202519_9d730af4e7_z.jpg

[jake klein]

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7241/7169190488_411fb50517_c.jpg

[Asher Kelman]

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6036/6333202519_9d730af4e7_z.jpg

Chris?

Am amazed eat the precision! Is this handheld? Do you use ring flash?

Asher

[Chris Calohan]

This is hand-held, 100mm Tokina Macro, F: 5.6 @ 1/1600, ISO 640, natural light in the Butterfly Garden at the Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, FL (UF Campus). No flash or tripods allowed in the facility.

[Chris Calohan]

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6052/6259809356_2e6a0f7dee_o.jpg

F:8 @ 1/250 ISO 400 D7000 w/ Nikkor 55-300 handheld at 280mm, natural light (indoors).

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6050/6251463945_7702df16eb_o.jpg

F:16 @ 1/125 Nikkor 18-105, ISO 800 Handheld, Natural Light (indoors)