I have often wondered why you elude me. Am I too timid? Or is my approach quite the opposite? Too forward or clumsy? Too reckless? It is easy to lay the blame at my own feet; I don’t know you as well as an admirer should. And yet, I could say, You are fearful. I could say, Your nature makes you fly away before I can make things click. I could be a man, and you could be a butterfly, and a camera might be the only thing in between us. And yet, a camera could be the only thing linking us.

⧞

This beauty is a Little Copper butterfly, also known as the American Copper, though it occurs in many places throughout the world. It has many other names, but its beauty and vivaciousness always strikes me keenly the same. It can be a tricky subject, dancing from flower to flower of wild thyme, resting long enough for me to get into perfect position and then fly away an instant before I depress the shutter button. (Our encounters have resulted in many shots of blurry wings and empty grass-scapes.) I took these particular shots utilizing natural light and a fairly high ISO setting.