Day 245 It was an Invitation to see

I have come across many photo galleries that include photographs of bugs at work. Sometimes i see things i would rather not. Once it was a spider that had just captured a moth and was busy preparing it for storage. I saw a macro shot (shockingly close-up) of a Praying Mantis eating a grasshopper and another of two iridescent blue-black beetles having intercourse. It isn't always appealing but it is always interesting and educational. But these were not subjects i wanted to see up close. Butterflies..  now that is another subject. I have wanted a butterfly experience since i first raised a camera to my eye.

For me capturing this photograph of a Tiger Swallowtail was very exciting. It makes me smile to think about what i was going on in my mind while i watched this creature float around our sunny garden. Initially i didn't seriously consider taking a picture. I was caught in a state of mind that said "i am unlucky, she won't be still and i will get a blurry photograph." So i kept going in and out of the house. I would watch her float off away from the garden and i would go inside to wash dishes. Then i would see her shadow float over the grass and she would return to work on that Tiger Lilly, scraping, and culling out something i couldn't see. I'm not sure what she was doing. But i would go outside and get as close as i could so i could watch. I got very close and finally could not longer allow myself to be foolishly sensitive to failure so i ran in the house for my camera. 

She finally rested on this Daphne bush and laid out her magnificent wings for me to see. I think she knew this was her shining moment to be captured on film so she posed in perfect stillness. Wasn't that nice of her?

What subject have you longed to photograph but thus far has eluded you?

Love, robin

Comments

[lencula]

Woow Robin!! I love your photos! Just beautiful!
This blog is sooooo lovely!
I like to come back here!

[Se'Lah]

Butterflies are my favourite...what fabulous captures. I am still chasing 'em. :)

Hope you are doing well. Thanks so much for touching base today.

Sending positive vibes your way.

[Tom Sheehan]

Beautiful images of the Tiger Swallowtail Robin. Very well captured. :)

[Laurie]

Wow Robin that's beautiful! I tried to capture the lightining in the storm we had last month. It was very elusive...

xoxo
Laurie

[meg duerksen]

we have these in the garden here too. they are so beautiful. my girls chase them like crazy. :)
beautiful pictures robin!

[jeanie]

Oh, lovely! Tiger butterflies are my favorites and the only photo I've ever been really proud of was a set of tiger butterflies I found last summer. Well, maybe not the ONLY photo -- but one I loved! These are marvelous -- I'm thrilled she opened her wings for you!

What to shoot -- I'm rather poor at birds. So, I think, birds!

[le petit cabinet de curiosites]

Love these butterflies !

[JudyG]

the hummingbird has always been the one I just can't seem to capture at the perfect moment...I've taken hundreds of photos of them and not a one of them has captured their true beauty in flight...but I do so love the watching and hoping...so happy that you captured your moment. hugs

[margie]

I too love a butterfly. is my sister robin copying me of late. the
lack of a capital on robin. I wonder? we ate up at the lake. man I love me a little summer.

[Debi]

Oh my goodness! I will bestow upon you one of my secret debi-poems I keep in a book for inspiration. Just fleeting little nothings, but I have the perfect nothing for this post, written in a lavender notebook I keep right here next to the couch.

"I look at the wings of a butterfly
and
think there should be a poem there somewhere,
but nothing comes,
and I wonder if the wings are the poem
or the looking"

:) You & me, kid. Bernie Taupin/Elton John. LOL!

[maddie]

I love these images ~ butterflies are so joyous and
fleeting in their beauty (such a poignant metaphor for the
be present in life)

i would love to visit you in portland and take photo's of
you!!!

:)

[joan]

Stopping by with a cup of coffee to read your blog instead of the mornings news.
Everything here is always so incredibly beautiful.
Thank you for sharing your Art and your Heart.

xoxo

[Suvarna]

beautifully, beautifully captured!
I have been trying to capture eagles forever and have yet to get a decent shot. There are a couple nesting near here and I see them often but don't have the right equipment to capture them well. I keep trying though.
:-)

[dutchbaby]

You are a magician! I love birds but they usually elude me, flitting away before the camera is even at my eye. I can't even hope for a butterfly - brava, Robin! These days, my teenage kids are the most elusive subjects.

[elizabeth]

beautiful. my elusive shot would be that smooth silky waterfall image.

I have been trying to capture a hummingbird at my neighbor's feeder. Mostly I spend lots of time frozen in place waiting .. but then I get distracted by something - and that's when the hummingbird appears, LOL.

[Annie]

Wonderful! So glad she stood still for you. I keep attempting a good dragonfly shot.

[marilyn]

Just beautiful! What a treasure to for her to pose for you and for you to get these lovely pictures. I would love to photograph a hummingbird, but so far not one has posed for me.

[coleen]

awwwwww......beautiful!....yellow butterflys alwaya remind me of my mom.....I was cutting out a picture of one for a card i was making when I got the call that she had passed...so, now everytime i see one I say "Hi Mom!"

Heart Hugs,
Coleen

[Claire]

Sigh. I adore butterflies!

Cxx

[Florence Muma]

I feel so very blessed to be able to see your work, thank you for sharing.

[Rosa]

So beautiful! I love taking photos of butterflies. I don't know what I've missed so far in this photography life of mine!

[spread your wings]

oh these are wonderful - so bold and beautiful.

[Wayfaring Wanderer]

Last year, mine was a butterfly,too.....have yet to come up with something new....I'll have to think about that.

These images are both amazing and unique in their own separate way. Here was the one I captured: http://www.wayfaringwanderer.com/2008/08/great-way-to-end-day.html

[Randi]

rain drops - that's the thing i want to focus on next. LOVE the photos!

[Toni]

Beautiful butterfly captures, Robin. My elusive shot would be the capture of moving water, either in a waterfall or stream. I want one of those shots.