Eye to eye with a butterfly

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Eye to eye with a butterfly

June 7, 2016 by Mike Powell

Spring is a time for chasing butterflies. This past week there seems to have been an explosion of Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) butterflies and I saw them at multiple locations yesterday as I trekked about in Huntley Meadows Park. The butterflies were very active, stopping for only short periods of time at flowers before moving on to the next one. My chasing behavior was impeded somewhat by the tall vegetation that has grown up in the fields, thanks to the large amount of rain that we had in May.

One of my favorite approaches with butterflies is to try to get at eye level with then and a few times yesterday I was able to get the kind of shot that I really like.

Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Great Spangled Fritillary, Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly, Huntley Meadows Park, Speyeria cybele, Tamron 180mm | 13 Comments

13 Responses

on June 7, 2016 at 7:28 am | Reply Gary S

Your photos always push me to try harder.
- on June 7, 2016 at 7:34 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Gary, for your kind words. Your comment was a wonderful way to start off my day.
on June 7, 2016 at 8:05 am | Reply shoreacres

Many butterfly names crack me up, and this is one. “Great Spangled Fritillary,” indeed. I do admire your photos. I’ve tried some butterfly photography, and generally end up saying, “Oh, phooey.” But when one finds a particularly tempting flower, and pauses, it’s great.
on June 7, 2016 at 10:11 am | Reply kenneturner

Beautiful, as usual.
- on June 8, 2016 at 5:43 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, kenne.
on June 7, 2016 at 5:33 pm | Reply svtakeiteasy

Very beautiful Mike. That point of view is so effective!
- on June 7, 2016 at 7:07 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Chris. The perspective is a bit different from the ones that you normally see for butterflies and I like being a bit “different” in so many ways. 🙂
on June 8, 2016 at 6:37 am | Reply Victor Rakmil

Beautifully done.
- on June 10, 2016 at 4:34 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Victor.
on June 9, 2016 at 5:10 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

Beautiful; both the flower and butterfly.
- on June 10, 2016 at 4:13 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Allen. I saw a lot of those flowers and those butterlflies that day, though not always together and definitely not always in range.
on June 12, 2016 at 5:16 am | Reply Inger

Beautifully captured!
- on June 14, 2016 at 5:38 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Inger.