I found myself in California for the second time in two months for a friend’s wedding last weekend. A group of us went on a hike at a little roadside attraction and saw a bunch of these butterflies:
California sister, Adelpha californica (I think…)
They kept darting away right as I hit the shutter release so I ended up with dozens of photos of random grasses with no butterflies. Fun times with insect photography! I got this one on something like the 50th try. Good timing too. Was about ready to throw my camera at one of them out of sheer frustration… :)
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The Dragonfly Woman 
I think it’s the rare Caligroovius Tauntis?
Rare indeed. : )
:)
Ha ha ha! Perhaps!
Well you certainly hit the jackpot with that one, even the eye is beautifully clear.
Thanks! I was SO thrilled it sat still for a moment. Think it was sunning its wings, but it flew off a few moments later so I totally lucked out. These were such flighty little guys!
I totally agree with macmuse: jackpot. Very nice photo.
Thank you so much! It was pure luck really. I just aimed the camera toward the butterfly and hoped for the best on this one, so I was thrilled it actually turned out decently.
I know how frustrating it can be with me trying to photograph bees and the hummingbird moths. That’s what’s great about digital photography – you can throw away all the ones with no butterfly in them!
Nancy
Oh man, hummingbird moths are a bear to photograph! They’re SO beautiful, so I keep trying, but I’ve yet to get one I would consider good. Hope you have fared better than I have. And I wholeheartedly agree with you RE: digital photography. That’s the whole reason I went digital in the first place!
Here’s one of them:
http://livingtheseasons.com/2012/09/02/last-few-days-of-summer/
Interestingly, several summers ago they were mostly black. Last summer they were brown. It was in the same place, so I was a little puzzled. When I looked at my pictures later, there really was a color variation.
Interesting! Wonder what led to the color change! And I love the photo.
I know – it doesn’t seem right. They’re in the exact same garden at Colonial Williamsburg. You’d think they’d look pretty similar.