Sunday, June 17, 2012

heath fritillary



at long last, a photo of a butterfly (a very tattered heath fritillary) on a butterfly orchid, it is a meadow icon. I am not sure why butterfly orchids are so named but I have never seen a butterfly on one before. There are a lot in the meadows this year. The butterflies were very docile after 48 hours of wind and rain which allowed some unusually close close ups. I have always liked the effect created by sunlight shining through the wings.




7 comments:

Tara said...

It's nice the weather slowed them down a bit for a new pic...am in the market for a new camera (mine froze!) and am thinking Canon Rebel...any suggestions? I need pics of Marley!

Spot said...

very difficult question! I find the non SLR digital cameras very light which makes them hard to handle. The Sony Alpha SLT A65 gets top marks in the Technical Image Press Association awards. I have my beady eyes set on a Nikon D800 (in a very long time).

Mary Ann said...

A lovely picture, of orchid and butterfly!

Brian champness said...

Knowing your sophisticated and creative mind so well, Spot, I am not as concerned about your obsession with the butterfly as I might have been since reading this: "The Glanville Fritillary is named after Lady Eleanor Glanville, a 17th century Lepidopterist who discovered this species in Lincolnshire. After her death, one of her sons contested her will on the grounds of lunacy, as eloquently described by Moses Harris in "The Aurelian" in 1766: "This Fly took its Name from the ingenious Lady Glanvil, whose Memory had like to have suffered for her Curiosity. Some Relations that was disappointed by her Will, attempted to let it aside by Acts of Lunacy, for they suggested that none but those who were deprived of their Senses, would go in Pursuit of Butterflies".

Brian Champness said...

On a more constructive note, Spot, it is as though the butterflies are specially posing for the photographer, choosing particularly lovely flowers for their poses.

Spot said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Spot said...

Cold and wet more likely. I found your earlier comment most instructive. We would have you know that we don't go in pursuit of these damned flies but rather we record whatever crosses our path to give some enduring substance to what is otherwise ephemeral and unnoticed in this amnesiac universe.