Cabbage White butterflies (Pieris rapae) are small, plain, and common, yet I find a real beauty in their elegant simplicity, especially when I get a view of their speckled green eyes. I spotted this Cabbage White last weekend when I was exploring Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. As always, my biggest challenge was getting into a shooting position in which the butterfly’s body was on a single plane in order to get most of it in focus—in this case I more or less succeeded in doing so.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Love the details in the wings and tip of the antennae!
Thanks, Molly. I had to be a bit stealthy, but managed to get close enough to capture the details that you mentioned.
Very nice composition, Mike! Your careful approach paid off.
Great shot Mike! Love the wing detail!
What a detailed shot! There’s almost a sense of nostalgic memory in his muted wings, as if someone forgot what his colour really was, once. He is so stark against all the colour, and yet so un-plain
Faded memories and faded colors, worn away by an overall sense of ennui and aging…
I hope we are still talking about the butterfly and not us hehehe
🙂