Milkweed and Friends

One of my goals this summer was showing the interaction between insects and prairie flowers. Common milkweed is a perfect plant to show insect drama on the prairie. While it is not native it has been adopted by resident butterflies as a preferred food source. Slow motion recording is the perfect medium to show butterflies and bees around these flowers.

Technical: Insects are shown at 1/8 normal speed, recorded with SonyRX10ii.

Monarch Morning

I have a lucky break this summer capturing the monarch wake up routine. They perch on tall prairie plants, in this case a water hemlock, and are covered with dew until it burns off. As there temperature rises they begin to move in preparation for flight. Film is shown in real time (no slow motion), natural sounds, and background music by hartwigmedia.com. The final warm up took almost 5 minutes allowing a variety of camera angles.

Dead or Alive?

When I saw this monarch I wondered if it had been caught in a web or the web was built around it. A leg moved for a second and my question was answered. The chilly nights bring these butterflies to a standstill and make for great photo opportunities before they warm up in the morning sun.

Technical: Canon 7D and 100 mm macro.

Monarch Migration

The monarch butterflies are moving through southern Minnesota. It has been a few years since I have seen the numbers floating in the air like this year. This is a completely unscientific observation which may be due to me being on the prairie at the perfect time. Yesterday's morning fog and dew made it for prairie photography. Why am I using black and white instead of traditional color image? This rendition seems more "historical"  given the current plight of the monarch butterfly as a species.

Technical: frame from Canon 7D video, Infrared filter used in Lightroom 6

Red Admiral eats Rattlesnake Master

The title could be a headline in a tabloid newspaper but actually describes the a common butterfly feeding on an uncommon Minnesota prairie plant. I like to photograph relationships and butterflies feeding on prairie plants provides a great opportunity to show the connection between them. It also easier to sit and wait for a butterfly to land than trying to chase it from plant to plant.

Gotcha!

Insect drama is not as exciting as the drama that unfolds for photographers when they see the charismatic megafauna of Africa or Yellowstone but it is much more common and cheaper to record. A slow walk in the woods or on the prairie will give more than enough opportunities to photograph drama in the natural world. I noticed an upside down flying butterfly and followed it until it landed. Then saw it was in the clutches of a big fly. 

So much food, so little time.

The orange is overwhelming as the is its food supply for the butterflies and bees that cover it. I chose to use a wide angle lens instead of the usual macro lens to show the diminutive size of the butterfly on the flower and make the most of the morning colors.

Butterfly Breakfast

It was 46 degrees when I woke up this morning, way too cold for butterflies. I finally went out when it hit 55 degrees and found a couple hairstreaks feeding on a dew covered butterfly weed. I settled for the butterfly after getting frustrated trying to capture a bumblebee in flight as it moved from flower to flower.

Autumn Feast

What are they? Beats me. I could have spent some time identifying each species but this quote from Mary Oliver comes to mind.

"Still, What I want in my life is to be willing to be dazzled---to cast aside the weight of facts and maybe even to float a little above this difficult world."

Enjoy.

Buckeye at Rest

This was captured using a more traditional photographic technique using a macro lens and tripod. Captured while the buckeye was resting on a prairie bush clover before sunrise at Shooting Star Prairie SNA in extreme southern Minnesota. Technical: The challenge is getting the wing completely sharp by positioning the wing parallel with the plane of the sensor.  Aperture is bracketed to get the most sharpness in the wing and the best blur in the background.

Common Buckeye

These butterflies were everywhere on a recent prairie visit. The wings were in varying stages of aging with a large number being seriously frayed.  All of the butterflies were busy feeding on golden rods and it was a photographer's feast!

Technical: This image was obtained holding a close up filter against a 10-22 mm wide angle lens at 10 mm and moving the camera in as close as possible (to about 4 inches) to the butterfly. Composition and focus were monitored using LiveView. Aperture f16, ISO 640. While using both hands to hold the lens and camera I was standing on my right leg. Who says you always need to shoot with a tripod?

Great Spangled Fritillary

Fritillaries are so intent on feeding they sit with their wings open inviting a photograph.  The biggest challenge of photographing fritillaries is identifying which species you are watching. My tendency is to start at the front and work backward but starting at the wing edges and moving inward seems to be a faster way to identify them. 

Sleepy Duskywing

I love the names!  I spent yesterday at Namekagon Barrens in NW Wisconsin with several butterfly enthusiasts.  Butterflies have an incredibly complex life history whether they are brightly colored or more subdue like the duskywing group.  Namekagon is off the beaten path but an ideal macro photography location with prairie wildflowers and their associated butterflies, bees, and other insects.

Eastern Comma

The butterflies are coming out of hibernation with Mourning Cloaks in open areas and commas in the woods.  Butterfly photography is grab shooting unless you have a good food source.  Technical: cropped to vertical, handheld using a 70-200 mm lens.