Quite often the simplest of subjects can be incredibly beautiful, like these little white butterflies that I photographed last week. Many folks might dismiss these nondescript creatures as moths or simply ignore them. It really is worthwhile to slow down and look at them closely.
The butterfly in the first photo is a Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) that was feeding on a patch of what I believe is purple dead nettle. Although it looks like a macro shot, I captured the image at the 600mm end of my telephoto zoom lens.
I took the next two pictures with an actual macro lens, my trusty Tamron 180mm lens. The tiny Eastern Tailed-Blue butterfly (Cupido comyntas) has a wingspan of about an inch (25 mm) and I was thrilled to capture so much detail of its beauty, including the little “tails.”
Beauty is everywhere.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Very nice series of Butterfly Images Mike!
Thanks, Reed. They are not as big and colorful as some other butterflies, but I still find them to be quite beautiful.
I saw these in NJ yesterday.
That bottom photo is really stunning, Mike.
Thanks, Dan. It is fun to try to artistic, while also capturing lots of details with my macro lens.
I would have thought the Eastern Tailed-blue to be a hairstreak, but I just learned that hairstreaks have hindwing tails, but they also have banding on the undersides of the wings. Now I know what to look for, if I can find one that will hold still for a hot second!
I’m so happy to see your post. A few years ago I had cleared the trees from my garden and before I could replant I had many natural species growing. It was the clover that drew these tiny butterflies. I was caught unaware- when one landed on my hand I froze. I had never seen one so small and so colorful. The one that landed was periwinkle on the outside and a beautiful cobalt/ dark violet on the inside. 1/2” and yet this incredible “ flying flower” decided to rest on my hand for a while. Time stood still . Thank you for your wonderful pictures! 😊🦋