Thursday, July 15, 2010

flutter by

I have not been very patient yet with butterflies. Rather than sit and wait until they get close to me, I have tried to sneak up on them, and they don't like it. Their flirt & flee tactics make them terrible models.

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I stayed home a couple days this week to do some chores around the house. After lunch, I saw one land on a neighbor's flowering bush, I crept around the blind side, and zoomed right through a gap between the branches to get this one. That's a monarch, right?

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We're experiencing the dog days of summer, and the heat index is pretty bad... especially when moving boxes and bicycles and lawn mowers, and five-gallon buckets filled with what-the-heck-am-I-saving-that-for?! I have a barbell that we kept for my oldest son to use. Somebody welded the caps on, so that the weight can't be changed. How do I get rid of that thing? I banged my ankle on it and did a funky little pain dance. It looked like a Caribbean/Irish jig.

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At the end of the day, I had an incredible thirst, and wanted a tall, frosty beer. Those clever commercials make it look like the most satisfying drink on the planet. I had water, instead.

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The sneaky butterfly picture was a nice treat for a grueling couple of days.

15 comments:

imac said...

A great way to capture B-flies is with a 300 lens - that way you dont get too close for them to flutter off.

That shot of yours is great.

I'm up for a beer?

lime said...

oh my lands the buckets of "what the heck am i saving that for" and the caribbean/irish pain jig...you make me laugh with the descriptions and their truth.

love the angle on the butterfly though. it's just a little different than many seem to use so i like it. like butterfly paparazzi. it is either a monarch or a viceroy which looks quite similar to a monarch.

Jesson Balaoing said...

i love this post!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Craver: Neat shot, it does look like a Monarch. I also call them flutterbys. Where do they get all that energy?

EG CameraGirl said...

Yes, sneaking up on butterflies can be very tricky! But you DID it!

George said...

I've tried using a long lens to capture butterflies but I have never been as successful at getting a good picture as you've been with this one.
Take it easy with all that hard work in this hot weather.

Gaelyn said...

Every time I see a butterfly flit by I think of taking a picture but know by the time I get the camera out it will have moved on.

You could always donate the welded bar bell away. ;)

Craver Vii said...

Most of what I shoot Imac, is with the 300 mm plus a 2x teleconverter. Still, I prefer being closer over using a stronger magnification.

I'll put a couple bottles in the icebox. :-)

Maybe the buckets and pain dance are ways that "God uses all things for good..." Lime, thanks for the tip about Viceroys. I looked it up, and now I can tell the difference. I'll have to look at my other pictures to know for sure, but it would appear that this is indeed a Monarch.

Thank you so much Jesson and Rey Ann.

Oh, and I thought I was being creative. You know what they say, Fishing Guy: "Great minds..."

Craver Vii said...

What I'd like to do EG, is to get near them and stay there for a while. Unfortunately, I'm doing "hit and runs" between other tasks, and being on the go with a demanding schedule does not give me the freedom to stay longer. Even if I don't take pictures... I'd like to just sit and relax, taking in all the beauty around me. You know what I mean?

Thanks George. Yes, I was careful, especially because I don't care for too much heat. I had a lot of water, kept to the shade, and went back into the air-conditioned house when I needed.

That's what I'm thinking about doing, Gaelyn. I have more weights back in the shed. We haven't touched them in eight years. My son likes to use the machines at the gym. As for me, I get my exercise pushing a lawn mower. :-)

happyone said...

Sounds like you've been pretty busy. I think I would have opted for the nice cold beer!! :-)
Nice capture of the butterfly!

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Well you would not hang around either if something 1000 times your size came sneaking up to you!! LOL!!

Is that a Monarch? It looks more like one of the Acraea family to me but then I do not really know your butterflies.

imac said...

Find time my friend to relax and enjoy Nature.
I used to rush, then suddenly realized that our time is short on Earth so I slowed down, now I enjoy as much as poss.

Craver Vii said...

A good kind of busy, Happyone. It is all worth it.

Good point, Joan. I'll start dieting immediately. ;-)

All in it's proper time Imac. The more I work on the weekdays, the better the rest will be on the weekend.

Carletta said...

Very nice catch!
The colors in this are wonderful.

Wendy said...

Yuck, beer!

I can picture the funky little pain dance, I can't stop giggling, lol. That butterfly is so pretty and you're right, they are very skittish and sometimes very hard to approach. Great picture, very vibrant colours :)