With a wingspan up to 7.4 inches (INaturalist), the Giant Swallowtail is the largest butterfly in North America. This one is sipping nectar from a Swamp Milkweed in my native plant garden in NE Oklahoma.
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Lovely. I’ve never seen a giant swallowtail, but butterflies on swamp milkweed are a favorite of mine. Swamp milkweed is just beginning to bloom here. Beautiful picture. I really like it.
Thank you, David. This is the first year I’ve grown swamp milkweed, and it has been terrific. I’ve had several species of butterfly and a Hummingbird Clearwing Moth on it. I’m going to grow more!
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He is beautiful, Terry. I have never seen one of these either. The details in him is excellent. I love his position he posed for you. I’m also not familiar with the Swamp Milkweed either. If it would attract this beauty, and the Clear Wing Hummingbird Moth, it would be something to consider. Not sure if it is native for this area in NC or not. I feel like this is so good I shouldn’t have anything to suggest, and it could be just me, but I feel like the milkweed is a part of the story, and they are cut off a bit close to the bloom. Not sure what it would look like with a bit of the stem in it, but if this was cropped, and you have some stem, maybe just take a look to see if it adds to or takes from this beautiful image. Lighting is spot on that BF.
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Thank you, Shirley. She did afford me several excellent poses, though she was never still!! I can add some stem to that shot. I will do so and repost, and see if you like it.
I believe your original post was the best composition, Terry. I think your repost has become too busy at the bottom for my taste. I am curious what others may say. He is in his environment that is for sure, so nothing wrong with the repost. Both compositions work for me, but I am beginning to lean more for your cropped version that you posted first. That is one beautiful BF, and I love the colors and details of him. Great shot. Thank you for reposting so we can see what the image looks like with more of its surroundings. I don’t guess you got a shot without the leaf crossing over his lower part of the wing? I was just enjoying the BF and thinking the flowers were cut off too much, and I think I missed that leaf. Not a big deal, that is for sure. I would be proud to call this my image!
I do have images with no leaf crossing over him, and I can post one, if you like. That is my one nit of this image, too. But I posted it because it so clearly shows his underwing colors. I totally agree the second image is a bit too busy, thus the reason for my original crop. Thanks for your observations!
BTW, swamp milkweed is native to most of the Eastern U.S., including NC. Here is a link to an excellent description of it. https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=asin
I love the color and clarity of the wings, and the position of them, so I think for me, if this was the one image that provided that, I could live with the leaf going across the bottom of his wing. Thank you for sharing that link. I will have to see about ordering some seed next year. I have bookmarked the site.
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Terry: I like both versions about the same and appreciate the difficulty of dealing with giant swallowtails. We often have the caterpillars on our citrus trees and I’ve had some luck shooting them right after they emerge from the chrysalis but the adults are usually so active that It’s hard to get a good angle and wing position. Nicely done. >=))>
Thanks, Bill. I didn’t realize until reading more about them a couple days ago they are considered something of a pest to citrus growers. They are certainly impressive butterflies!
Hi Terry, I too find these large butterflies to be always on the move and tough to catch so this is impressive to me. Love the underwing look. I prefer the original post. A fine image.
Thanks much, Allen. When I watch them, I always wonder how they get any nectar. They never stay in one place long enough!
Terry, both versions look good to me. Your original post emphasizes the butterfly, while the 2nd version is a good mix of BF and surroundings. The clarity of the bf is great. Swamp milkweed is an outstanding pollinator attractor. It’s considered much better than common milkweed. It blooms over a longer period of time and later in the summer than common milkweed or butterfly milkweed, which means that it overlaps with the late summer butterflies better. Its one drawback is that it requires moist soil.
Thanks, Mark. I have planted both common and butterfly milkweed in the past, with mixed results. Swamp Milkweed has really caught my attention. I have it in a spot where it should receive ample moisture. I look forward to some Monarch caterpillars!
Coming in late to the discussion my main point is how much I enjoyed your image - great “pose” with half open wings, a perfect angle and really clear + sharp. I wonder whether a third crop option might be to make the image square, use the second image and get rid of any little bits of the right-hand flower. That would at least mean an un-cropped flower but no distracting “clutter”. Maybe worth a try. I do think it is good to see creatures in their context. But, mainly, what a great image!
Hey, Philip. It’s okay to be “late” - especially when the critique is so complimentary! Ha! Thank you. I didn’t try a square crop, but I’ll see what that does. Thank you, again for your kind comments.