I must confess that in all my years of butterfly-watching*, I have always preferred Tiger Swallowtails to Monarchs…
Until I looked over my Macro shots of Mona the Monarch…
And felt as if I were gazing at a Gothic Cathedral stained glass window. Mona just blew me way—it wasn’t even close.
The conditions under which I photographed her were far from ideal. For minutes she simply sat on the flower with wings folded tight—then abruptly sped away too fast for me to follow…
And yet! As I developed the raws, she proved a stunner from every angle.
At least that’s how I felt. But you tell me. Compare Mona here with my previous photos of Tina the Tiger Swallowtail. The latter’s no slouch…
But Mona’s called a Monarch for a reason.
*I’m not a lepidopterist, but have filmed TV commercials of butterflies, which involved working with professional butterfly trainers. Yes, they exist.
Buy prints of the featured photo, above
