I ran across this post from @wolfje about a new monthly competition to encourage more socialization here on Steemit. This month, the challenge is to show your bestest most favoritest photo. I immediately knew which shot I wanted to enter:

Gulf Fritillary Macro

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Why It's My Favorite

I took this shot back in September of this past year (2017) in the little nature area behind the school I work at. At the time, I was trying to find a monarch butterfly that I could get some pictures of; I wanted to work on a Steemit post about them. I never did find one, so I decided that I would settle for any butterfly. I quickly learned that they are not easy creatures to get good shots of, because they tend to be really skittish. My macro setup is just a cheap screw on adapter that I put on my regular lens, so I have to get in super close. I tried for days to get up close with one, but came up goose eggs every time. I was getting ready to give up when I encountered this beautiful gulf fritillary.

I first spotted it resting on a flower with its wings spread apart. The top of their wings are a deep orange color with some black circles. I crept in to attempt a shot, but of course, it flew. That's when I got to see the underside of its wings. They are much more colorful than the tops! I watched as this butterfly traveled just a few yard and lit on another flower. I made another attempt; only a little bit slower, this time. To my surprise, this gulf fritillary didn't spook.

I started off by taking my macro adapter off of the camera and getting a few shots with my stock lens. It was the EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II that came with my camera. I got a few decent shots with it, but not THE shot that I was looking for. I weighed my options. I could continue what I was doing and keep getting the same shots, or I could reattach the macro adapter and risk scaring the thing off for good by moving in closer.

I decided to go for the win!

I slowly screwed the attachment back onto the front of my camera and scooted ever closer. Amazingly, it stayed put! I spent the next 20 minutes or so just hanging out with this beautiful butterfly, and the only reason I didn't stay longer was because I was on my lunch break, and it was coming to an end. It was one of the most relaxing experiences that I had had in a long time!

This experience got me hooked on Steemit. Steemit was the reason I had decided to pull my camera out, and now it had led to this beautiful experience.