The U. S. distribution of the pipevine swallowtail extends from southern Connecticut south to central Florida and west to Arizona with an isolated population in northern California. This one is nectaring on Western Ironweed in my yard in NE Oklahoma.
An interesting side note (at least to me) is that an extract of the southwestern pipevine, one of the larval host plants for this butterfly, was the main ingredient in the snakeroot oil sold by traveling “snakeroot doctors” at medicine shows in the Old West during the 19th century. Aristolochic acids in the products have been implicated as causative agents of renal toxicity and also may be carcinogenic.
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Technical Details
Canon 60D, Canon 70-300mm IS USM Zoom @ 225mm, f/8, 1/1500 sec., ISO 1000, Ev -1.5 step. Processed in ACR and PSE 2020 for exposure and cropping. Topaz De-noise applied.
Beautiful capture, Terry! Love all the different colors of the butterfly and flower. Nice muted background to make them stand out. Interesting factoids about the snakeroot medicine, not as long of a side effects list as the ‘medicine’ of today!
Terry, this is spectacular! I love the position you caught the BF in, and the lighting just shining right in his face. Love the flowers too, the colors are beautiful. Nice smooth BG too. I could see cropping a bit more and see if the brighter portion of the BG could even be eliminated and still have the flowers in the frame enough at the bottom that it doesn’t look too cut off. Maybe even a square frame. Just a thought. Love this image.
Thanks @Vanessa_Hill. I hadn’t really thought about it but you are right concerning the side effects of modern medications! Haven’t come all that far, have we?
Hi @Shirley_Freeman. Thank you very much; I’m glad you like it. When I first processed this, I kinda liked that shining light in that corner, but the more I look at it, the more I think you are right. I touched it up a bit with some content aware fill and will repost to see if you like it better. Thanks, again!
This is a beautiful image Terry! I love the morning light and the position of the butterfly. The repost removing the bright spot is a good improvement. Well done!
Nice image Terry - these guys are tough to catch without them constantly flapping their wings. I like the repost with the bright area taken out. I like the pose of the butterfly - we can see the full body as well as the wings. Nice!
Repost looks good. You could crop it without having to edit out orphaned plant parts, but it would be a very tight crop. Having some is always a good thing. I think you did well capturing this fast moving swallowtail…Jim
Thanks @Allen_Sparks@Vanessa_Hill@Jim_Zablotny. These butterflies are always a challenge to capture in a good pose, with good light, and relatively motionless, as mentioned by Allen. He was definitely a beautiful specimen.
