The FZ300, FZ1000 and Butterflies

FZ300 ISO100 f3.5 @ 1/2000

If a butterfly lands on your shoulder it's supposed to mean "good luck." I wonder what it means when it lands on your head? They like bright colors - guess all the gray hair at this point in my life was a good thing! LOL

Here's the scenario - I shared a few of these images yesterday in a post about my wife's birthday. Two months ago, with the help of a local landscaper we created a water feature in the backyard surrounded by plants that attract butterflies. I decided to have some fun and purchased a few to release in the garden as part of her birthday celebration.

I had two cameras to play with, a LUMIX FZ300 and an FZ1000. It was a bright sunny day and all of the images were captured hand-held. I know it's pretty tough to screw up a shot of a butterfly, but nonetheless, the technology of the cameras often make me look better than I deserve!

The first two images below are of Zebra Longwings. They were released about ten minutes apart and checked out the area on their own. They headed off in opposite directions, but a Hibiscus brought them back for a little reunion about an hour later. 

The third image is a Monarch. We had four of them and they all went straight for the Milk Weed. After three hours they were still hanging out at the "buffet." The next morning two of them were still in the area.

There's an old Indian legend I shared in yesterday's post, but it's worthy of being shared again...

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If anyone desires a wish to come true they must firstcapture a butterfly and whisper that wish to it.
Since a butterfly can make no sound, the butterfly can not reveal
the wish to anyone but the Great Spirit who hears and sees all.
In gratitude for giving the beautiful butterfly its freedom, the Great Spirit always grants the wish.
So, according to legend, by making a wish and giving the butterfly its freedom, 
the wish will be taken to the heavens and be granted.

It was an emotional afternoon filled with nothing but smiles. We know the chances of any of them staying in the area and laying eggs is a stretch, but nothing matches the memories made or how much we enjoy the images of the "kids" during the afternoon.

Not knowing anything about what their behavior was going to be, I chose to set up the FZ1000 on a tripod and just shoot video for the first few minutes.  Later in the day I started playing with both cameras for still images. I had no idea how long they would stay around and shot everything in Intelligent Auto.

At some point I'll edit a little of the video and take a shot at seeing how much I've learned from Suzette Allen, the Queen of Hybrid and Photodex. I want to put together a one minute clip of images and video to give the day the presentation and recognition it deserves.

FZ1000: ISO 250 f4 @ 1/125

FZ1000: ISO 25O f4 @ 1/80

FZ300: ISO 125 f2.8 @ 1/80