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5E4F3C

Early visitor.

Posted by MaryB (Staffordshire, United Kingdom) on 4 March 2008 in Animal & Insect and Portfolio.

We were very suprised to see a butterfly in the house on Sunday (Mothering Sunday here)
I had a strange notion that it was my mother sending me a message (she passed away 23 years ago on the 11th February) as I was thinking of her at the time. I googled to see if there were any mention of what butterflies were supposed to symbolize and found this......
The Aztecs believed that the happy dead in the form of beautiful butterflies would visit their relatives to assure them that all was well.

Any tips or constructive criticism are welcome :)

I really appreciate all your comments, thank you so much. I'm only sorry I've not got time to respond. I do read all the comments and will try to answer any questions you have about my posts :)

ON OUR RECENT TRIP, TO NORWAY AND THE ARCTIC, WE VISITED 7 PLACES AND TRAVELED A TOTAL DISTANCE OF 4233 NAUTICAL MILES
1 nautical mile = 1.15 land miles or 1.852 kilometers.

Comments (34)

Elisa from Massachusetts, United States

great capture!!

4 Mar 2008 12:19am

@Elisa: Thank you Elisa :)

Saeed from Tehran, Iran

Very nice shot. interesting reflection

4 Mar 2008 12:26am

@Saeed: Thank you Saeed, she was resting on a polished table in our sitting room.

dpm from Malé, Maldives

its wonderful how we can google anything these days
very nice

4 Mar 2008 1:05am

@dpm: Thank you dpm, I agree google is great to find out things.

{H} creatives from Santa Clara, United States

Oh wow, Mary...this one did take my breath away. The reflections are just so amazing. And what a lovely and uplifting belief of the Aztecs to have found such a meaningful notion of butterfly visits - a marvelous and wonderful creature. Cheers'nBlessings - {H}

4 Mar 2008 1:06am

@{H} creatives: Thank you {H} your visits are always most welcome and truly appreciated.
I was amazed to find out that through the centuries and in different cultures and religions that butterflies are deemed to represent the soul, such a beautiful idea.

Mandy from South Africa

Mary this is TOTALLY awesome - LOVE the reflection you captured in the table and the clarity of the btterfly is tremendous....was checking out your previous posts and boy oh boy you are definitely doing that new camera justice!!! Awesome shots and congrats on the new beauty!!! :)

4 Mar 2008 1:18am

@Mandy: Awww! thank you Mandy, I am having so much fun, trying to work out how the cam works, some work well some not so well lol :D just taking my time and getting used to it.

Michael Skorulski from Cigel, Slovakia

That is a lovely story and the butterfly is beautiful as well. You have captured wonderful detail. I like the reflected image too.

4 Mar 2008 1:58am

@Michael Skorulski: Thank you Michael, tomorrows shot is a little closer still. :)

e. from New York, NY, United States

Wow, beautiful! The reflection really makes this photo even better. Not that it needs it, since the detail is incredible!

4 Mar 2008 3:29am

@e.: Awww! thank you e :)

DaveB from Exeter, United Kingdom

Lovely sharp shot and great reflection

4 Mar 2008 4:51am

@DaveB: Thanks Dave. :)

Craiger from Vacaville, California, United States

A very good macro shot!

4 Mar 2008 6:52am

@Craiger: Thank you Craig :)

HorseRotorVator from Newton, United States

Super duper close up! Nice eye ball. I'll probably be one of those when I die and reform. :)

4 Mar 2008 7:00am

@HorseRotorVator: Cheers HRV, I was suprised by how detailed her eyes were, she looks quite big in this but she was only about 1 inch from head to the end of her wings.

Man With 101 Names from Hamburg, United States

YOU know you are really starting to BUG me !! You and your great shots will all your highfalutin details from your fancy schmancy camera !! LOL , just messing with ya ... wonderful shot ... if patience is a virtue , than you must be the most virtuous woman around !! FANTASTIC SHOT !

4 Mar 2008 8:17am

@Man With 101 Names: LMAO :D you'd better not look tomorrow then, I get a little bit closer lol :)
Cheers pal, your comments always make me smile :)

Himera from Ljubljana, Slovenia

Beautiful butterfly, lovely story and an excellent shot!

4 Mar 2008 8:41am

@Himera: Thank you Himera, for your comment and vist :)

vu@granby - Wolfgang Prigge from Granby, QC, Canada

Another one of your famous close-ups, bravo! Also, thanks for the info about butterflies...

4 Mar 2008 9:43am

@vu@granby - Wolfgang Prigge: Cheers Wolfgang, I was suprised to find that many cultures regard/ed the butterfly as a soul, a beautiful thought.

amy from Rocky Mountain House, Canada

Mary! You are so Johnny on the spot!! I would've totally botched this up but you get it full of details with great light and that reflection!! FABulous, girl!! Absolutely fabulous!! And what a great belief the Aztec's had... they weren't dummies.

4 Mar 2008 10:31am

@amy: Ooo! thanks Amy, I get such a buzz from trying to photograph insects and flowers, even better when I get a half decent shot. Needless to say I'm saving like crazy for a macro lens now :)

Reza from Montreal, Canada

Wow Mary! This is fascinating indeed. Very beautiful and its reflection even makes the beautiy double. Wonderful job.

4 Mar 2008 11:26am

@Reza: Thank you very much Reza, tomorrow it gets a little closer :)

Irina from Moscow, Russian Federation

Oh.. what a lucky shot! the reflection makes it very interesting. Nice touching story

4 Mar 2008 1:20pm

@Irina: Thank you Irina. I was very lucky as she came to me :)

Michael from Wuppertal, Germany

Mary, I am so impressed! This is amazing, stunning---perfect!
Excellent with the refection on the ground... a 10+++!

4 Mar 2008 1:21pm

@Michael: Thank you Michael, what a lovely compliment, you are very kind.

Farhad.B from Babol, Iran

wowwwwww i love this i realy love this :) great shottttttttttttttt great focus

4 Mar 2008 2:03pm

@Farhad.B: Thank you Farhad.B :) I'm really pleased you like it.

Viewfinder from Bradenton, United States

Hmm... in Christian popular imagery, a butterfly is a symbol of resurrection.

4 Mar 2008 3:08pm

@Viewfinder: I knew about it's symbolisim in Christianity but was plesantly suprised that the beautifully little butterfly is also a symbol of many different religions and cultures past and present :)

Illuci from Hurdegaryp, Netherlands

MaryB, each time I see a new picture of yours you seem to have exceeded yourself. How do you do that? It must take painstaking effort and much skill! I love this one too, it gives like your other pictures such joyful moments! BTW with the new blogfinder I expect you will get more business on your blog than you already have :)

4 Mar 2008 4:10pm

@Illuci: Thank you so much dear Erik for such a lovely compliment.

Ron from Saint Louis, United States

A beautiful capture, here, MaryB. The detail and reflection are exquisite. Your accompanying story made my visit all the more worthwhile. Thanks!

4 Mar 2008 4:20pm

@Ron: Why thank you Ron for such a lovely comment.

standley from Brou-sur-Chantereine, France

What a beautiful story. Wonderful capture. Great details and reflection!

4 Mar 2008 5:44pm

@standley: Thank you very much Richard :)

Richard_Irwin from Belper, United Kingdom

What a beautiful shot, it looks like a Brimstone butterfly, and they are the first spring butterflies in the UK. How lucky to have it came straight to you. I think it must have ben a sign, as you say.

4 Mar 2008 6:08pm

@Richard_Irwin: Thank you Richard, it was lovely to see this little butterfly, we did try to let it go free but it flew back. (It eventually flew away today). I would like to think it was a sign, either way I found comfort in the thought. :)

Jen from Alpharetta, United States

Beautiful shot and i love the symbolism you found about butterflies!

4 Mar 2008 6:15pm

@Jen: Thank you Jen :)

Melissa from Warsaw, Indiana, United States

What a story, Mary! And what a gorgeous capture! The detail in this is amazing! Very well done, indeed.

4 Mar 2008 7:26pm

@Melissa: Thank you so much Melissa :)

tyan from Singapore, Singapore

Dear Mary,this shot really took my breath away!The dark background and the reflection made it look like its done in the studio,so brilliantly done!And this is a beautiful butterfly,and i am happy that it has given you some comfort as you remember your mother:)

4 Mar 2008 8:10pm

akarui from Kagoshima, Japan

This a beautiful macro picture! Sharp details on the butterfly. Great colors separation with the background. The reflection adds to the picture but may be because it is very blur I feel that all of the reflection is not needed, especially the blue part in high contrast with the black bottom which distract me. Try a crop and see if you like it better?

4 Mar 2008 10:14pm

Gary from Cochise County, United States

Wow, This is very nice Mary. Like Mandy, I have been looking at your work the last couple days and you have been doing wonderful things with that camera. I guess it was a perfect match.

4 Mar 2008 11:09pm

Evi from Athens, Greece

Great!

5 Mar 2008 2:09am

Nishana Minhaz from Calicut, India

that's a beautiful butterfly..very peaceful-lookin too..i see that both our images for the day are bout visitors..though ur image is far better, i must say :) great capture and write-up. i saw the close-up shot too, the details are jus awesome! thank you for commenting on my blog, by the way..

5 Mar 2008 5:07am

Japanalia from Yokohama, Japan

This is a cabbage butterfly...I like them because of their colour...they look so ghostly! A very nice capture with that blurred reflection! I like it!!!

5 Mar 2008 5:24am