Once again the neighboring Butterfly Pavillion in Westminster has proven to be a rich source of knowledge and beauty.  The White Morph visiting with a Big Eye Butterfly at the pavillion provides a great contrast.

Boulder’s Neighboring Butterfly Pavilion Has A White Morph Butterfly Communing With A Big Eye Butterfly. Photo: Lenny “Lensworth” Frieling

The “big eyes” provide protection by convincing predators that the Big Eye Butterfly is larger than it actually is. I suspect that the white coloration of the morpho provide protection by making the butterfly just about invisible when it is sitting on a branch. I had to enhance the photo to get decent visibility. I generally avoid enhancement for several unimportant reasons, but here it seemed helpful and appropriate.

Morpho polyphemus, the white morpho or Polyphemus white morpho, is a white butterfly of Mexico and Central America, ranging as far south as Costa Rica. As suggested by its name, this is one of the relatively few Morphos that is white rather than blue. Some authorities include M. luna, which is also white, as a subspecies of M. polyphemus. Both the blue and the white morphos are rather large. The blues are a real challenge to photograph since they seldom hold still and say “cheese.” The backs of the blue morphos look like big eye butterflies, and more like moths than like butterflies. The whites are white on both sides.

I’m just learning to use my new 75-300 macro zoom and so far it seems ideal for butterflies which are about 6 feet, 2 meters away. Since it fits on my highest resolution camera it is only my shaky hand held pictures which introduce any blur.  There is virtually no “pixelating” or breaking up into pixel spots with the super high resolution and full-sized chip (which I still refer to as film even though it is really the computer chip that gathers the light). Another advantage to this Sony Alpha 850 camera is the large number of pixels. Between these features I was able to crop/zoom in during the manipulation which I did on the computer. The downside is that the combination, especially with the two battery handgrip on the bottom, is heavy. When shooting butterflies I pick a good spot, sit down, get comfortable and braced, and wait for the butterflies to pose for me. It takes far more patience than skill.

Shared Knowledge is Power!

Lenny “Lensworth” Frieling

Lenny Frieling Pen Of Justice

• Multi-published and widely syndicated blogger and author.
• Most recently published by Amazon, his first book, "Lensworth"a book of his prize-winning photos.
• University lectures at University of Colorado, Boulder, Denver University Law School, Univ. of New Mexico, Las Vegas NM, and many other schools at all levels. Numerous lectures for the NORML Legal Committee
• Former Judge
• Media work, including starring in episodes of Fox’s Power of Attorney, well in excess of many hundreds media interviews, appearances, articles, and podcasts, including co-hosting Time For Hemp for two years.
• Life Member, NORML Legal Committee, Distinguished Counsel Circle.
• Photographer of the Year, AboutBoulder 2023
• First Chair and Originator of the Colorado Bar Association’s Cannabis Law Committee, a National first.
• Previous Chair, Boulder Criminal Defense Bar (8 years)
• Twice chair Executive Counsel, Colorado Bar Association Criminal Law Section
• Life Member, Colorado Criminal Defense Bar
• Board Member Emeritus, Colorado NORML, and prior chair during legalization, as well as pre and post legalization
• Chair, Colorado NORML, 7 years including during the successful effort to legalize recreational pot in Colorado
• Senior Counsel Emeritus to the Boulder Law firm Dolan + Zimmerman LLP : (720)-610-0951
• Board member, Author, and Editor for Criminal Law Articles for the Colorado Lawyer, primary publication of the Colorado Bar Assoc. 7 Years, in addition to having 2 Colorado Lawyer cover photos, and numerous articles for the Colorado Lawyer monthly publication.
• http://www.Lfrieling.com