Tuliptree Blossom with Guest
Another Day at Work
Apis Workers' Party
Predator
Some of Your Beeswax
Sedum Bumbler
Look of Defiance
Chicory Bee
Bumbling Bees
Garden Cafe
Buzz By Here - To Infinity and Beyond
Pick Your Poison
Blind Side Attack
On a Mission
Honey Bee on Sedum
Covering the Cosmos
Center of the Cosmos
Three's a Crowd
Popular Spot
On A Pedestal
Big Harry Fireworks Display
To Impress the Girl
Different Perspective
Sweet Ride
Perfect Little Piggies B&W
Flipping the Light Fantastic
Festival of Flights
To the Crowd's Delight
Amish Go Round
Wondersome One
The Stars In Her Eyes
Tuesday's Child
Sleeper Hold
Considering the Next Move
Sugar and Spice
Front Porch Portrait
Caged Competitor
Early Adoration
Child In the Ligtht
Stroll Through the Weeds
Attention Grabbing
Eye Contact
On the Line
Eyes of Wonder
Rounding the Curve
Troubadours of Basin Spring Park
Down by the Creek
Sun Day
Catching Some Light
EAA Fireworks
Hear Me Roar
Butterflies
Hanging Tapestry
An owl eye butterfly rests on a branch, displaying the intricate patterns and eye-like spots on its wings. To me, is a beautiful artwork of pattern and color – like a detailed tapestry. This is one of the many varieties of butterflies cultivated and displayed at the Butterfly Palace in Branson, Missouri.
You can get a better, more detailed look at this creature by clicking on the photo. (The pattern in the eyes is pretty of cool!)
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me (pops@popsdigital.com) for digital purchase and licensing options.
Tropical Mix
One of the exotic butterflies at the Butterfly Palace in Branson, MO was kind enough to strike a pose on one of the tropical plants. l’m not sure what kind of butterfly this is other than it’s something you won’t find flying around my neighborhood.
I like a few of the elements of this image. First, I like the fact that the butterfly’s antennae are cocked to the side. Everything else about this image seems almost staged so something a little “off” adds an touch of realism. I like the detail in the leaves, highlighted by the back-lighting. I like the detail in the butterfly’s wings – even though mostly dark, you can see the subtle shading and variation in pattern. I also like the overall, pleasing blend of colors in the frame. I didn’t do anything to set these various elements up; I just shot what I found, the way I found it.
You can enjoy more of the details by viewing the larger version. Simply click on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Buckeye Beauty
This little beauty is a junonia coenia butterfly; better known a the “common buckeye.” You’ve likely seen this butterfly in your own neighborhood.
Though the majority of Buckeyes populate the southern regions of the U.S., adults from the south’s first brood migrate north in late spring and summer to temporarily colonize most of the United States and parts of southern Canada. I photographed this one on a recent trip to southern Missouri. A number of them (along with a few monarch butterflies) were feeding on a patch of asters next to a sidewalk at the resort we were staying at.
You can view a larger, full-screen version of this image by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Feed the Flame
This distinctively marked butterfly was feeding on some tiny red flowers at the Butterfly Palace and Rainforest Adventure in Branson, MO.
On a recent trip to Branson, Missouri I spent several hours at the Butterfly Palace getting a ton of butterfly images. I was also able to snap a few of the local, native butterflies in the wild. Stay tuned, as I intend to post a variety of butterfly photos in the coming weeks.
In my mind, this butterfly’s orange markings look like a custom painted flame design. I couldn’t identify this type of butterfly. Even a chart of butterflies on the wall at the Butterfly Palace didn’t have an example of this one, though there were a bunch of these beauties flitting around.
If you have a sharp eye, you may have noticed another butterfly in this shot, It’s the blurry orange and white spot in the upper left-hand corner.
To get a closer, more detailed look, click on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Red-spotted Purple Admiral Butterfly
I found this butterfly resting on the ground. I searched the Internet to identify it and found it to be a “Red-spotted Purple Admiral.”
This was a pleasant find while biking on the Ahnapee State Trail near the Bruemmer Park Zoo northwest of Kewaunee. This was the second such butterfly I saw. This one was kind enough to allow me to get close enough to snap a portrait. I”m not sure how it got the name Red-spotted, since its spots seem mostly orange which seemed consistent with other images I found online.
You can see more of the detail in this image by viewing the full-screen version. To do so, simply click on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Pauper’s Throne
This unlikely king takes a rather stately stance on an even more unlikely throne. This brown butterfly was photographed at the edge of our backyard in rural N.E. Wisconsin.
I spent a good deal of time looking for a similar butterfly on Google. I’m sure I looked through thousands of images, but was never able to find another that looked just like it. Consequently, I have no idea what kind of butterfly it was.
You can get a closer look by viewing the full-screen version by simply clicking on the image.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Flitting Among the Asters
On a warm summer day, this monarch butterfly was enjoying the weather and the wildflowers.
This was in a vacant field in the middle of an urban area. The warm sun and abundance of wildflowers were attracting a number of butterflies. Of course, they attracted me and my camera.
My goal was to capture the butterflies in flight. Not difficult to do with the number of butterflies in the area. The difficult part was to capture them close up and in focus. They fly erratically, up and down and every direction. Thankfully, with today’s modern digital cameras, you can snap hundreds of photos (if needed) without the expense of photo development to find the right shot. On this particular shoot, I believe I snapped about 140 shots and came away with several keepers. Still, while this particular butterfly is in focus, when you look closely, the image suffers from a bit of motion blur. (Did I mention they fly erratically?)
You can view a full-screen version of this image simply by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Sitting Pretty
Creation is teaming with unique, delicate beauties for the observant who are persistent to see beyond the obvious.
Within the Puelicher Butterfly Vivarium in the Milwaukee Public Museum there are hundreds of specimens. This one, a Small Postman butterfly, (heliconius melpomene), was among the tiniest. (To view the largest, visit my previous post: Owl Butterfly.)
Postman butterflies are tropical butterflies found in Central and South America. They are most common along sunlit forest edges with flowers.
As sweet as they may appear, they have little to fear from predators. As caterpillars, they feed on passion flower leaves, storing up toxic chemicals they retained throughout their lifespan that makes them foul-tasting to typical predators.
You can get a better look at this beauty by clicking on the photo and viewing a full-screen version.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Paper Kite
This beautiful, high-contrast butterfly is known by the name, Paper Kite. It’s technical name is Idea Leuconoe. The name game doesn’t stop there, either. It’s also called a Wood Nymph butterfly, Large Tree Nymph butterfly or simply, Rice Paper butterfly.
The Paper Kite has a weak, fluttery flight interspersed with gliding due to the high ratio of their wing-size to body-size. You would think, with their bright color and bold pattern, they would easily fall victim to predators, but like monarch butterflies, they are poisonous or highly unpalatable and are not often attacked.
The Paper Kite’s natural territory is Southeast Asia. Apparently, it is a common resident in butterfly greenhouses and live butterfly expositions. I found this one at the Butterfly Palace and Rainforest Adventure in Branson, MO.
You can view a larger version of this image by simply clicking on it.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.
Monarch Squadron
All three of these monarch butterflies are in flight. They were circling, and eventually landing and feeding on, the purple asters in a vacant field near the building where I work.
I didn’t see a lot of butterflies this year, but when I did, it was all within a few weeks at the end of the summer. This photo was taken in late September.
In the interest of full disclosure, you should know this is a composite image. I combined three separate photos – each with one butterfly – to create this image of three butterflies. They were all photographed exactly as you see them…in the location that you see them…just at different moments.
You can view more detail in a larger version of this photo, by clicking on the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.