Florida Photo Journal #6 ~ Honoring the Butterfly [Slide Show]
Whether young or old, we have all found ourselves, at one time or another, fascinated with butterflies. Their small bodies and large colorful wings captivate the imagination and delight the eyes. And, as children, most of us learned the story of their life cycle in school. As a child myself, I also remember running through fields near my home for hours on end just for the joy of seeing their colors and watching them fly. And now, as a photographer and lover of nature, I still find myself mesmerized by their beauty and the magic they offer both my eyes and camera.
Over 20,000 different species of butterflies have been found around the world. Depending on the species their life span ranges from one week to almost one year. They also have some of the most striking colors found in nature, colors that camouflage them from predators, serve as warnings and help attract mates. The basic colors like blacks and browns come from the same chemical that tans our skin from the sun. And, those those dazzling blues, greens, reds and iridescence come from thin scales loosely attached to their wings which act like thousands of small prisms.
No matter how well planned, finding and photographing butterflies in nature is rarely easy. Fortunately, there are hundreds of butterfly release programs and living exhibit centers across the USA where these beautiful creatures are allowed to breed, kept save from predators, and live in a carefully controlled environment in which we can experience and enjoy them close-up.
While I have visited many of these programs and centers around the country, my most favorite is The Butterfly Rainforest, in Gainesville. Operated by the Florida Museum of Natural History, this 6,500 square foot (604 m²) facility houses more than more than 60 species and over 1,000 butterflies at any given time. It also contains dozens of walking paths, overlooks and even benches for resting, where you can enjoy and photograph these amazing creatures throughout the day.
The Butterfly
(Click an image to start the show)
Above is an interactive slide containing some of the images made during a recent visit to The Butterfly Rainforest in Gainesville. Once you begin the show you can either click on a specific photo to view it in a larger size, or easily navigate from one photo to the next.
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How do you get them to pose for you? Is it your charm?
Beautiful photos! Butterflies are little jewels on the wing. It makes me long even more for Spring, although in my area the thickest visitation of butterflies is in late summer. We have a neighborhood butterfly garden. I need to get busy and start some milkweed plants!
Oh, Rick – these are absolutely beautiful. I have taken photos at the Naples Botanical Gardens and and my garden up north – I love these images in my library. Hubby has promised we can stop in Gainsville on our way home in April. We went to the Venice Rookery yesterday and I had a blast – thanks for the tip. And I learned a little bit more about what to do and not do with my camera.
I also learned I need another lens!
Wow! Talk about effortless beauty. Butterflies put world-famous designers to shame…without even trying.
Lovely photos of lovely creatures.
You make me want to go photograph butterflies. Thanks for sharing.
Very beautiful. I have peacock butterflies hibernating in my bedroom every winter. They are the perfect symbol for the soul with the transformations they undergo before taking flight too. My garden is always full of butterflies and bees in summer.. and I try in vain to capture them on camera with the perfection you have here, Rick.
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing Rick!
I love the second one, it’s staring back at me
Wonderful photographs! I think of butterflies as flowers which have come loose from their plants and float across the fields in a moving palette of color for us to enjoy.
Wow!!! Thank you for sharing this beauty!
What magnificent shots of such beautiful butterflies! I love the ones with red and black, especially the third image in the slideshow.
Just beautiful!
Gorgeous photos, Rick! THANKS for revisiting my “pun-ny” photoblog and subscribing! I hope I can bring you a smile (or at least a groan) every weekday!
–John R.: http://TheDailyGraff.com
Wonderful collection. There is something magical about butterflies that keeps our attention.
Delightful photos.
Especially the second butterfly with that huge false eye, along with a smaller false eye. What has this butterfly been thinking? Shall I add another smaller eye-spot, in case my big false eye doesn’t work?
The mimicry is stunning. As a bird, coming across a butterfly with such huge false eye, I would jump out of my socks, and get another meal elsewhere.
I completely agree with your first sentence. I never paid a lot of attention to butterflies growing up. We had monarchs in Northern California, but they were *boring*. Haha. I always loved the idea of the caterpillar turning into something beautiful, though…. I was amazed when I went to Taiwan and Hong Kong by the thousands of gorgeous varieties of butterflies there. Because it was so tropical, there seemed to be a lot more wildlife of all kinds scurrying and fluttering there… I’m sure the similar climate in Florida is the same. Beautiful images!
Beautiful. The tiger swallowtails are my favorite, particularly the male eastern. Thanks for such an uplifting post!
I tell you Susan, I think they love being photographed because once I bring out the cameras and get things set up they suddenly stop flying around and pose like the best models I’ve ever worked with
I’ve never heard of a neighborhood butterfly garden and, what a lovely idea Cathy. I hope I’ll be seeing lots their photos on your blog in the months ahead. They are truly stunning creatures that are a joy to photograph.
That’s perfect Pat! They are stunning insects that obviously love to have their photo taken so others can see and appreciate their beauty.
Butterflies definitely are the perfect example of transformation aren’t they Sue. Your summer garden sounds absolutely delightful and a perfect home for them to live safely and in peace. As for capturing their photo, I know from the photos you post that you’re good with the camera. In my many years of photo experience though I’ve learned that there are some creatures that allow us to make their photograph to share their beauty with others. And, there are other creatures that want only to share their beauty with us alone to record the moment in our heart instead of in the camera. And sometimes that is the greatest gift imaginable.
It is a joy sharing these with others Frank. Thank you for visiting and taking time to post this comment.
Photographing that second butterfly in the slide show Sam was quite an experience because no matter where I moved the camera to find the best way to photograph it, that large eye was like one of those great paintings by the masters where the eyes always seem to be staring right at you. It was quite magical.
That description of butterflies is a powerful and beautiful image Wally and something I know I will carry with me into my next landscape photo shoot. Thank you so much.
It is always a delight to share Nature’s beauty with others Resa. Thank you for visiting and taking the time to comment.
like Mona Lisa? Very mystical indeed. I love it. The rest of the butterflies have their vibrant colours and are really beautiful but this odd one just stay with me, lol…
Thank you Rene. I’m so pleased you enjoyed the butterfly images. Red is such a striking color to find in Nature that the eye is easily drawn to it. And, with that third butterfly photo, it was even more powerful because the butterfly landed upon a small red flower whose red color was a perfect match for the butterfly’s.
Thank you RJ. I truly appreciate your visit and your comment.
Thank you for the lovely words on the photos J.A. and for taking time to visit. I discovered your blog about a month ago and the text you write to accompany your photos always brings a smile to my face. I hope you’ll stop back here from time to time.
Thank you Lyle for the comment on the butterfly photos. I agree completely that there is something always magical about them that holds our attention. On one afternoon last fall I was photographing in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and unexpectedly discovered a field with hundreds of butterflies flying around everywhere. It was so magical and mesmerizing that I ended up spending nearly 4 hours watching, enjoying and photographing them. Then, as the sun was beginning to set I remembered I had a 1 1/2 hour hike back to the cabin. It’s moments like that you never forget!
There is a hummingbird moth that comes to my garden every year, Rick. It feeds almost at the same time every day on the valerian by the front door, than wanders round to the butterfly bush in the back yard. I have never caught it well on camera.. just enough to be able to find out what it was. We don’t have flying jewels in England very often. This I count as a gift from the heart of earth.
Sounds wonderful.
And, it’s absolutely delightful as always to hear from you Paula. I do not know if they ever decided on whether it was DeVinci or Shakespeare who said the eyes are windows into the soul. But clearly those magnificent eyes, six in fact because they are duplicated on the opposite wing, take us all deeply into some mesmerizing place within that little creature. While I was photographing it, I continuously kept feeling it was taking me in with its eyes as much as I was with my own. That’s a great thought on a bird coming upon all those eyes and deciding to head for a less threatening meal! Of course, if it’s a way to attract the opposite sex, imagine the effect it would have if those large eyes could actually wink!
Thanks for visiting Jessica and for taking the time to post this lovely comment. What an experience you must have had to see them in Taiwan and Hong Kong. I’ve never traveled to those places but imagine because of their climate that they’d have a great many species and in large numbers. Definitely, you’re right that the places they tend to be found in the largest numbers within the States are warm climates including Florida, Georgia and Texas. Hope you can stop back from time to time.
I will! Most certainly.
Oh wow Marla, thanks for this uplifting comment! And also for your visit.
What beautiful creatures. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I agree. The butterfly and flower seemed to almost be as one. My favorite color is shades of green, but out of curiosity, I once did an online ‘test’ to see what it would say about my favorite color. Surprisingly, it came back with the result of red, and I realized that I love various shades of deep reds as accent colors. Like you said, “…the eye is easily drawn to it”.
Is there anything you do not photograph beautifully? These are all so stunning. It would be impossible to choose a favorite.
Rick, this is so interesting! I never knew how’s or why’s the color on butterfly wings! And, as always, beautiful photos….
Nature is filled with such incredible beauty, some baffling mysteries she fortunately keeps to herself and, in the case of butterfly wing colors, some things that are more easily explained. I’m so pleased you enjoyed the post.
Oh LuAnn, you say the nicest things. Thank you { }
Red is an absolutely amazing color. I don’t know about other types of art but for me and photography at least, it’s a bit like that story of the three bears. A small amount of red is easily missed by the eye and too much of it can overwhelm the senses. But when you find that in-between place it is magical and captivates the eye in the most pleasing and stimulating of ways.
Just beautiful photos Rick – so lovely to see them! Warmest thoughts your way my friend
And I’ll revisit you, Rick.!
Absolutely beautiful Rick, I can’t see many in the city , and therefore I love your pictures even more. Thank you.
I sincerely mean it.
I’m sure those butterflies knew you’d be seeing and enjoying their photos. That’s part of why they posed so beautifully for the camera.
I think the butterflies pose for you because of your big false eye. They simply can’t work out how humans have been able to enlarge their eyes, calling them ‘cameras’.
What a terrific thought Paula that I’ve never ever considered. And what a great insight into the mind of a butterfly. I LOVE it. Thank you for bringing a HUGE smile to my face today
))
The magic of the butterfly beautifully captured by your love of nature Rick…it lifts the heart to see them, thank you.
In the bleak of winter this is the medicine that is needed to show that their are better, sunnier days ahead. And who isn’t fascinated by the beauty of the butterfly,
There’s a place in Santa Barbara that is a butterfly sanctuary (called the Elwood Preserve). It’s beautiful. =)
Absolutely stunning Rick!! I love photographing butterflies too, especially those found in the woodlands. Sometimes the larger moths and butterflies are seldom seen! They’re a real find when spotted.
I love horses but butterflies are also stunning they so many different kind of colors, spots and speckles that if you look to long and focus you are going to see other things through them, thanks for these beautiful photos !
What a beautiful first post to read this morning Jane. Thank you.
Thanks Karen. I have no idea if there are butterflies in Hawaii. If you get a moment sometime, I’d love to hear about that.
Hi Wondernuts
Thank you for visiting and for offering this great suggestion. I’m scheduled to be near Santa Barbara later on this year and have added the Elwood Preserve to my list of places to visit. I sure appreciate it.
Those larger ones definitely feel like discovering little treasures, don’t they Lori. I’m so pleased you enjoyed the photos.
I agree completely. And, every butterfly is unique from all others! Plus, every time they move in the sunlight, their colors change slightly.
Thanks for your kind explaining, this I didn’t know and have a nice Sunday !
E ‘un piacere condividere con voi. Spero che torneremo. [It is a pleasure to share this with people. Thank you for visiting.]
You know Rick we do have. In fact there is one that is indigenous to Hawaii. It’s not very showy but if I run across one I will try to photograph it.
I would LOVE to see some Karen hopefully in an upcoming post sometime. That would be great!
We have a little butterfly garden near my home town (a rather tiny facility compared to the one mentioned, above) which I always enjoyed visiting – although it’s much to long since I have been there…
I learned that in the north of Europe some of the pupaes (hope thet’s correct – meaning the state before the caterpilar becomes a butterfly) can even skip a year before finally transforming into a butterfly if the weather is too cold or the circumstances are not the best. And some butterflies are still out looking for fermented fruits in cold November, here in Europe, while other insects are already hybernating underneath the earth. Not to mention the long distances some of them travel.
Amazing creatures – and so beautifully captured by you!