Earlier this week I chased after this beautiful little butterfly at Green Spring Gardens, in Alexandria, Virginia. I am pretty sure that it’s a Clouded Sulphur butterfly (Colias philodice), but have no idea of the identity of the flower on which it is feeding. Although at first glance it may look like I used flash for this image, a close examination of the shadows shows the direction of the bright sunlight. I was using spot metering for this light-colored subject, which meant that the background was significantly underexposed when getting a proper exposure of the primary subject.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Beautiful photo! The yellow butterflies are the hardest for me to photograph. They tend not to hold still for very long.
Excellent butterfly photo, Mike. I’m guessing that’s a red hibiscus flower it’s nectaring on. I’m also thinking that the butterfly is probably a female Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae), very similar to the Clouded Sulphur and both of which you’re also likely to see in your area these days. The size of those big spots and that broken line of light brown helped me make the call.
Thanks, Joe, for help with the id. I had trouble distinguishing between the Clouded and Cloudless Sulphuts, so I pretty much guessed when it came to making a decision.
When this post came up I just knew it had to be yours – wonderful detail
Thanks so much. I used to worry about becoming too predictable, but I have now grown comfortable enough with a certain style and subject matter that I’m actually pretty happy that people can recognize my images