Monarch Butterfly

— Recently I came upon a blog by a photographer named Denzil. He is based in Belgium, and the blog is simply called Denzil Nature. Nothing else is needed to describe what his blog is all about. In the blog, he has one section he calls Nature Photo Challenge. You can read about those challenges here. So far, there have been thirteen challenges. Although I am coming in at this point in time, I plan on revisiting previous challenges and possibly submitting my own entries for each theme. His Nature Photo Challenge #13 is butterflies. That is so timely. Here’s the story behind the shots below.

This past week I met with two friends to go on our monthly photo walk. Mostly, those walks are about macro photography, but occasionally we also make some other nature-themed photos. This month we picked Berry Springs Park and Preserve, located in Georgetown, Texas, just within the Austin metropolitan area.

We have been having a good and long spring season with plenty of wildflowers. Although we did not see a lot of insects on this trip, there were plenty of wildflowers in the preserve’s garden. Just as we were getting ready to leave, one of the volunteers at the park mentioned seeing some Monarch butterflies in one area we had already been to earlier in the morning. At that time, all I had seen were Queen butterflies. I immediately headed back to that area to try to spot the Monarchs. if you have ever tried to photograph butterflies, you know that sometimes they can be hard to photograph. Patience is a key element when photographing them because they tend to move fast. A high shutter speed also helps when you are trying to get a sharp photo with their wings in focus. The photos featured here all had a shutter speed of 1/1500 seconds. Additional EXIF data is available if you click on each photo.

At first, I was having a hard time getting a good photo or getting a photo that would satisfy me. Most of the photos would show a Monarch with its wings closed. Although a nice composition, such as the photo above, I really wanted to get a stationary photo showing the wings wide open, such as the first image in this post. It was proving to be harder than I had anticipated. One factor was the constant motion. Another factor was the light. The sun was getting higher in the sky. Furthermore, whenever a Monarch would spread its wings, it would be away from my lens. I was constantly moving from side to side in hopes of a better shot. Here is another photo I made before the desired photo I had in mind. Do you have a favorite among these three?

I really liked this image because it was simple. The background was not busy. You had a Monarch enjoying the nectar of Greggs Mistflowers.

Monarchs are interesting butterflies. Here are some facts you may or may not know about them.

• They are one of the most recognizable butterflies in the world.
• Their beauty is misleading as they are poisonous to predators because they eat milkweed plants, which contain toxins.
• They migrate long distances and can travel up to 2,000 miles (3,219 km) in a single day.
• They are the only butterfly that migrates north and south each year. Some monarchs in North America fly to Mexico for the winter, and some monarchs in Australia fly to New Guinea.
• They are important pollinators for plants such as milkweed, wildflowers, and fruit trees.
• Their numbers are declining because of several reasons, including habitat loss, climate change, and pesticide use.

My blog has many other photos of butterflies. Just follow that link to see more varieties.

For Denzil Nature’s challenge on patterns.