12th Annual Butterfly Festival

I decided to invest in the Pro version of Flickr, since 500px is a bit out of my price range and I’m rather fond of Flickr. I ran out of space on my account, so because I bought Pro for a year (next year I’ll worry about renewing it…), I put the new space I received to good use. Last year I went to the 11th Annual Butterfly Festival in Plano, and this year I went again, to the 12th. Bri ended up meeting us there after her appointment, since Grandmama, Papa and I all went after mine (allergy shot). This post is rather picture heavy, just a warning.

I probably shouldn’t have upgraded to Pro, but I need a place to showcase my photography, and there’s only so much one can do with free versions of photo sharing mess. In other words, I didn’t really have another option, and I’d rather not rely on Facebook, who supposedly owns photos after they are uploaded.

Afterward, we went to Chik-fil-A, where I bought us lunch, and then Bri bought our movies. We watched Olympus Has Fallen. It’s an action movie. White House Down was featured in a preview, and it stars Channing Tatum. We think it’s the comedy version of Olympus Has Fallen. I REALLY can’t wait for Fast & Furious 6, because I love Vin Diesel, a few of the other actors (like Paul Walker), and movies about fast cars. 😀

We even got to release some butterflies! They had two per envelope! They just kept handing us some. It was awesome. Last time, we missed doing this because we went in later.

I was using the camera my dad got Grandmama for either Christmas or her birthday. It was 16.1 megapixels, but it definitely did not work like my camera. It was like a DSLR and a digital camera had a baby, and this was the result. I suppose the best thing about it is that it takes larger and more crisp pictures? It just doesn’t capture motion very well like my 8.1 megapixel baby does.

Several monarch butterflies feeding

Several monarch butterflies on yellow flowers

Two monarch butterflies on white woman's hands

Two monarch butterflies on white woman's arm

Single monarch butterfly on netting

Several monarch butterflies feeding

Single monarch butterfly on white woman's hand

Single monarch butterfly on tarp

Monarch butterflies in translucent envelopes

Opening an envelope holding pair of butterflies

White woman releasing two butterflies from their envelope

Brown butterfly feeding with monarch butterflies

White butterfly on white woman's hand

White monarch butterfly atop ponytail holder on blonde head, making it look like a barrette

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Comments on this post

Those butterflies are gorgeous! And your pictures are also quite clear. I love how I can clearly see the patterns on their wings! 😀 I think that I’d love to stop by a butterfly release like that someday.

Cool photos! (I’m sorry, I had to ! xD)

I didn’t know butterflies could be kept in envelopes like that, but I suppose that’s why they kept handing them out, so they didn’t have to be stuck in the envelope for too long. And I heard that ~8MP is the optimal resolution for an efficient camera. Like you noticed, having too many MP takes too long to obtain enough light to take the photo, that’s why it can’t capture motion too well.

I’ve always wanted to go to something like that. I love butterflies and I’d love to have them land on me. What is happening in the picture where the butterflies are in the tissue paper? (pictures 12, 13, 14).

@Christine, Those butterflies are in the envelopes… That is how you release butterflies!

The photos are gorgeous, some of them have a really awesome 90’s feel for some reason, maybe the flash causing the harsh shadows.

I’ve always been iffy about paying places like Flickr or DeviantArt for extra space. I mean if it’s a good idea for you to use I’m all for it, but I’ve always preferred to just build my own portfolio platform. Always seemed cheaper.

Oooo it’s one of those “DSLR” cameras that has a fixed lens & can zoom up your nose, but produces point & shoot quality pictures because its light sensor is way too sensitive & tries to cram in so many megapixels…right?

Still, lots of your pictures turned out well, like all the ones with the butterflies alone. 🙂 So pretty! Really neat that you also got to release some too.

My dad uses SmugMug, but I … don’t think it’s free..or is it…? Not quite sure.

@Tiff, YES. The most expensive thing I will ever probably buy is the Nikon DSLR I have my eyes on. I think I’ll just use my camera from now on. I’m not really a huge fan of this one. It’s a Nikon Coolpix L26. It also takes forever to focus, and it won’t take the picture if it doesn’t. I missed out on a lot of great photo opportunities because of this camera. Bri’s iPhone took better pictures.

Sometimes, you gotta spend money for these multimedia sites for the full experience. You’re definitely putting it to good use with these newly uploaded pictures. It sounded like the both of you enjoyed your lunch and movie. I heard that Olympus Has Fallen was pretty good. For some reason, if I follow your statement (which I have no idea what either movie is about), I’m guessing that White House Down is supposed to attract more female audiences because of Channing Tatum. I want to see Fast & Furious 6 though! The crew and The Rock is going to be in it… Along with a tank or two, haha.

For some reason, the butterfly on sitting on the hair looks so much like a butterfly hair clip/pin! And the butterfly in the envelopes are so trippy. But I have no doubts that it’s harmful or anything since its at the butterfly festival.

@Nancy, The butterflies in the envelopes are the butterflies that get released! They kept handing us a ton. I should have asked the guy how they transferred the butterflies from place to place… When we were done releasing ours, there were over at least 300 butterflies in all, so I don’t think they could put them back into the envelopes. Then again, butterflies last as soon as the females lay the eggs, and there were a ton mating.

I like Flickr too. It’s one of the few online services I upgraded to a Pro account on. I think it’s worth it since Flickr keeps the original photo sizes without compressing them (unlike Facebook).

I didn’t realize there was an Annual Butterfly Festival in Plano! I used to visit Plano often when one of my friends still lived there. That looks like a cool thing to go to though. I love looking at butterflies 🙂 You got some nice photos of them!

Wow, the colours of the butterflies are so vivid!

Were they that bright orange really? They look so beautiful.

@Kalliste, Yep, they’re bright and colorful and crisp. To be honest, they looked so surreal and artistic, almost like a painting. And they all have different weights, no matter how small.