Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Background Check

 After spending an interesting morning behind a "no dumping" sign, photographing stuff that had been dumped, I took a short hike up Boyle Ravine with my wife.  The whole time I was listening to her report on a great novel she's been reading, but also thinking about what I would do with those new photos.  Nature intervened, as it so often does, as I almost stepped on a California Sister butterfly on the trail.  The wings were barely moving, so I wasn't sure if it was dead and the movement was caused by wind.  I picked it up and found that it was barely alive.  It rested on my palm as I carried it home - no camera on this hike - and placed it on my computer sleeve for a few photos.  The background was rather dark, so for comparison, I took a few photos of it on my left hand.  Very little movement, so the insect was clearly in its last days or hours. 
 I then took the butterfly out on my back deck and photographed it on top of one of the 6 x 6 posts that support the deck railing.  Since it wasn't resisting my handling, I took a few photos of its underside, the seldom seen side.  Although the colors are a  bit subdued, it's quite an amazing sight, and one can see or imagine the whole rainbow there.
 I call this one "The Better Half" although the other half seems just as nice.
I'm almost ready to post some results of my exploration behind the "no dumping" sign. 

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