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Delicate Beauty


Delicate Beauty
Photo Information
Copyright: Pam Russell (coasties) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3817 W: 505 N: 8098] (27718)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2005-02-13
Categories: Insects
Camera: Canon EOS 10D, Sigma 80-400 OS, Hoya UV 77mm
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2005-02-22 3:43
Viewed: 1701
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 32
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

Monarchs live for about 9 months, but they don't always look like butterflies. The monarch begins its life as an egg. The eggs, layed on milkweed leaves, hatch into caterpillars. The baby caterpillars eat the milkweed, and grow very quickly. The milkweed contains a poison that the monarchs use as a defense. While the poison doesn't hurt the monarchs, it makes them taste bad to birds and other predators. Predators soon learn to avoid the bright colors of the monarch caterpillars and butterflies.

Monarch Lifecycle

Caterpillar (larva)
Monarchs are caterpillars for a couple of weeks. They spend that time eating milkweed leaves.

Crysalis (pupa)
After eating their fill of milkweed, the caterpillar forms a shiny green and gold speckled crysalis. This is the pupal stage.

Butterfly (adult)
After about 14 days, the adult monarch butterfly emerges from its crysalis.


The Aztec believed the adult Monarch butterflies to be the incarnation of their fallen warriors, wearing the colors of battle.


Migration
As the weather gets colder, monarchs begin their annual migration. Tens of millions of these butterflies spend the winter in a mountain forest in Central Mexico. Monarchs sometimes cover whole trees of eucalyptus and pine groves. In the spring they will make the long journy back north, and lay eggs along the way. When these eggs hatch into caterpillars, the whole cycle starts over again.

Image Information

Camera: Canon 10D
Time of day: 10:50 a.m.
Date: 13th February 2005
Weather conditions: Clear
Lens: Sigma 80-400mm OS
Filter: Hoya 77mm UV
Shutter Speed: 1/750
F-Stop: F/9.5
Flash: No
Tripod: No
Metering Mode: Average
Focal Length: 400mm
ISO: 400
red45, gerhardt, sAner, elroyie, marhowie, dew77, Junim, pompey, PDP, Callie has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • red45 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2705 W: 74 N: 8864] (30243)
  • [2005-02-22 3:50]

Excellent Pam! Full of sun and colours, detailed and sharp. I like this monarch and its colours and colours of thistle, too.

This is very nice, Pam. Your first macro? Excellent compo and colors. Well done.

Dear Pam!
You make wonderful photo. I'm impressed of it!
Great details and pose. Thank you very much!

  • Great 
  • sAner Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1490 W: 72 N: 1427] (4744)
  • [2005-02-22 6:22]

Wonderful! Colors are excellent and so are the details. Good POV & DOF.

Ours that photo! How colors and that moment! Still I go to obtain to take off a photo thus! :)

Ours that clearness!

Congratulations Pam!

Very good quality and very good colours, the focus is very accurate, I like the blured tips of its wings.

Great macr, perfect colours and great POV:
Well done.
TFS.

Pam, Excellent colors, details & composed well. Nice POV..Complimentary BG...Great note...Well done!!

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4774 W: 294 N: 4020] (13209)
  • [2005-02-22 9:10]

Very nice macro with colors,sharpness and details.Congratutations!

  • Great 
  • Junim Gold Star Critiquer [C: 66 W: 0 N: 1] (6)
  • [2005-02-22 9:59]

Nice compose.
Very beautiful colors.
Good sharpness.
Congratulations!

  • Great 
  • pompey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 146 W: 4 N: 745] (2768)
  • [2005-02-22 14:42]

Great shot Pam, very clear and colourful image. Superb POV and DOF.
Great background and note.
A very good photograph, thanks for sharing.

  • Great 
  • PDP Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor [C: 2821 W: 344 N: 3779] (11769)
  • [2005-02-22 14:58]

Excellent shot Pam, the details are there in all the right places. Some will say the wings could be included in the DOF but I kind of like them like this sometimes. Very nice colours and composition. Well done.

Very good macro Pam.
The colours are very good, and det detials, composition are good. Very well done.

  • Great 
  • Jayp Silver Note Writer [C: 2 W: 0 N: 22] (106)
  • [2005-02-24 2:01]

Pam, I'm glad I finally clicked on the link to this site from TE as the posts here are all exceptional.

Absolutely marvelous picture taken without a tripod. I have to say that I am more impressed with your posts here than on TE.

Regards
John P

  • Great 
  • Callie Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1132 W: 105 N: 2609] (7531)
  • [2005-03-05 14:36]

Hi Pam
Your title says it all, very nice b'fly and a good job you did here on the colours and POV. TFS, nice note too.

Hi Pam
Excellent sharpness, saturation and DOF. The monarch's patterns seem almost to be hand painted.

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