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As an avid gardener I love to photograph flowers and flying flowers. Many years ago I was invited to exhibit at the Rockaway Arts Council for the monarch migration and then at the New York Hall of Science. I never thought or dreamed that my butterflies would attract so much attention. I love to photograph them and they still make me go all-a-flutter…the name of my original butterfly exhibition and this portfolio.
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I have photographed the White Peacock in a variety of locations in Costa Rica as well is the vivariums of Sweetbriar Nature Center, Smithtown, LI and the Butterfly Viviarium of the Aquarium in Riverhead, LI. Both are favorite places to focus on these glorious little creatures.
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I was so excited to finally get out to Riverhead to photograph in the new LI Aquarium Butterfly Vivarium. It was fabulous, especially because it was cold and wintry outside…and then I stepped into a tropical fantasyland. It’s a great place to enjoy these remarkable little creatures.
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Butterflies have long been a favorite subject of mine; but rarely do I have such success photographing them in their natural habitat. While it is much easier to photograph butterflies in a vivarium, Calverton Ponds Preserve, LI can offer fabulous butterfly photography opportunities and because these little creatures enamor me, I am invariably prepared with macro lens and flash setup. This Banded Hairstreak was a successful shot that day…and it is 100% natural.
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Luna moths, of the Saturniidae family, are among the largest moths in North America and one of the Asian Silk moths. This pristine beauty just emerged from its coccoon at Sweetbriar Nature Center, Smithtown, LI. Although considered to be common, moths are rarely seen because they are nocturnal and have a brief lifespan. Saturniidae adults have no mouths and emerge from their cocoon for the sole purpose of mating…and then they die.
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I love monarch butterflies, but more than that I search for visual contrast in my viewfinder. The opposite colors of the orange and purple of the Scaevola plant were just what I was looking for…and while processing my raw file in Photoshop, I experimented with the sumi filter and created this personal interpretation!
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Butterflies have long been a favorite subject of mine; but rarely do I have great success photographing them in their natural habitat. While it is much easier to photograph butterflies in a vivarium, Calverton Ponds Preserve on Long island offers fabulous butterfly photography opportunities and because those little creatures enamor me, I am always prepared with my macro lens and flash setup. This American Copper might be the most common North American species, but I think it is pretty special and 100% natural.
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Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of this family inhabit every continent except Antarctica.
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The Zebra Swallowtail is native to the eastern United States and southeast Canada. Its distinctive wing shape and long tails make it easy to identify, and its black and white-striped pattern is reminiscent of a zebra. There are two blue spots in the corner of their hind wings that also have a red spot near the center.
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The Emerald Swallowtail is a very beautiful butterfly. and when the light is right the emerald color sparkles like jewels. The natural habitat for Emerald Swallowtails is southeast Asia but they can be seen in some vivariums and conservatories.
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The Giant Swallowtail can be seen throughout the American continent….and here it is on my butterfly bush!
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The polydamas swallowtail has no tail. As I am preparing this portfolio for my website manager, I am researching and discovering all sorts of intersting facts.
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Heliconians are brightly colored butterflies with long forewings. They are now considered closely related to the fritillaries.
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The Gulf fritillary is a bright orange butterfly of the family Nymphalidae and subfamily Heliconiinae…and I of course, was attracted to its orange color that contrasted intensely with the pink coneflowers.
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The White Peacock is a species of butterfly found in the southeastern United States, Central America, and throughout much of South America. I’ve captured it its natural habitat in Costa Rica as well as in captivity. The eye spots on the wings are part of Nature’s protection from predators who could become confused into thinking that the large eyes belong to a large animal and not a fragile butterfly.
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Nature has established many mimic relationships among butterflies to ward off predators. The poisonous and distasteful pipevine swallowtail is one of Nature’s mimic butterflies that protects the black swallowtail.
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The eastern black swallowtail is one of our most common and most studied swallowtails. Although it is admired for its beauty, it is one of the very few butterflies that may occasionally be considered a pest.
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The queen butterfly, a North and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae, is orange or brown with black wing borders and small white forewing spots and can be confused with the monarch; and like the monarch, it feeds on milkweed making it unpalatable to birds.
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Skippers are a challenge to photograph because they are tiny and have erratic flight patterns but my butterfly bush provided a great habitat for all kinds of flying creatures.
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Because these butterflies like to rest with with their wings opened, we have plent of opportunity to photograph their splendid colors.
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The monarch butterfly is a milkweed butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Plant milkweed and stop using pesticides can help the monarch survive. The monarch was a favorite childhood sighting of mine and it saddens me that it may not be a-flutter to delight children in the future.
If there was but one plant to put in my garden it would be the Buddleia, commonly called the Butterfly Bush. I spent many hours photographing an assortment of butterflies that gathered on this huge buddleia that grew beside my deck. This Monarch is one of the many shots of butterflies that came from my butterfly bush.
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The natural habitat of Rice Paper butterflies is southeast Asia but we can see them butterfly vivariums and conservatories. Large and striking with translucent white wings patterned with black streaks and spots warns predators that they are poisonous.
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Between the veins of these wings are scales that appear to be translucent…but these scales are like mirrors. The colorful patterned scales on the wings of most butterflies are designed by Nature to ward off predators…but the glasswing protects itself by being nearly invisible. The only way that you can tell that it has wings at all are the dark edges. If not for these dark edges, the glasswing would be nearly invisible.
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The Painted Lady is almost global in its distribution. I photographed this in my garden. There are distinctive markings to identify the Painted Lady from the American Painted Lady but neither of these images show the spots.
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The Great Southern White butterfly is found in the southern part of eastern and central US, primarily in coastal states.
Males are whitest. Females range from slightly off-white to almost pure charcoal.
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The Cairns Birdwing, endemic to northeastern Australia, is Australia’s largest endemic butterfly species. It’s name Cairns is a reference to the Australian city in the region where this butterfly is found. The colors of this butterfly are knock-your-socks off gorgeous. I have photographed it in other vivariums but it’s so great to have it here in the LI Aquarium Vivarium in Riverhead. This image became the cover for June/July 2012 issue of Creations Magazine.
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More spectacular than one Cairns Birdwing are two! Here they are mating and that can take hours so it is easy to photograph. The difficult part is to find a background that complements the subject.
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The colors of this butterfly are knock-your-socks off real and gorgeous. This image became the cover for June/July 2012 issue of Creations Magazine.
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Butterflies are the universal symol for rebirth and renewal. Sightings delight and make me all-a-flutter!
The Common Buckeye is uncommonly gorgeous and Creations Magazine chose this image for the cover of one of their issues.