Perspective and timing really matter. In the first photo, the Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) is immediately recognizable as a butterfly. When the butterfly opened its wings wider and I took the second shot, however, I captured an image that forces viewers to pause for a second to process what their eyes are seeing. We are so used to seeing butterflies with wings fully visible that we may not immediately recognize a butterfly when the angle of the shot causes the wings to virtually disappear. The final image is a more “normal” view of the butterfly on a different perch.
I spotted this Black Swallowtail butterfly last Friday as I was wandering about at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Dragonflies were pretty scarce that day, so it was nice to see so many butterflies still flying. That day was nice and warm, but since then our temperatures have been lower than average—it is currently 40 degrees (4 degrees C) as I write this posting at 5:30 in the morning and today’s high is forecast to be about 65 degrees (18 degrees C). Autumn has definitely arrived.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Beautiful perspective! I likened it to a tiny fighter jet.
Lucky you to see butterflies in October. Of course your more southerly locale helps. I had a Black Swallowtail on our parsley in late September and placed it into a container with a few parsley sprigs and a piece of branch for it to cocoon on. I am hoping it’ll overwinter as they do that while in the pupa and hatch in the spring.
errr….black swallowtail caterpillar that is.
Lovely to see all three angles of the black swallowtail, Mike. When I clicked on the third image and got the close-up, I was delighted to see the cobweb and curled up proboscis. A joy to see your photos, my friend.
Thanks, Jet. It’s fun to try different angles when photographing wild creatures and it gives me a good workout as I stretch and bend to frame my photos. 🙂
Beautiful photographs of a gorgeous butterfly!
Isn’t it amazing what can be revealed if we are willing to change our point of view?