Photographer's Comment: Mating Zebra Swallowtails in the wild. Kind of gives a whole new meaning to "swallowtail." I was truly blessed this day to capture this - my attention was drawn to them by yet another variety of swallowtail that was black and gold - at least I think it was also a swallowtail.

Viewer Comments:

By Isachsen (2007-07-08 09:56:24 ): This is so wonderful. Sometimes nature just dazles me with its sudden shows of beauty. Thanks for sharing this fine moment with us!

By DougWilkening (2007-07-08 00:38:14 ): Re Jill's comments: One thing you can do with this image is select the grass out by color and then tone it down a bit with a curves adjustment. That often works well. Re the harsh whites, you're probably stuck with them in this image. When doing butterflies with white markings, I usually try to underexpose by maybe 2/3 of an f stop. It looks like you had harsh direct sun here. Stroke of bad luck. Getting between them and the sun, so as to have them in your shadow, might also have worked.

By vdtconsult (2007-07-07 03:27:47 ): This is a wonderful shot and very unusual. However, technically it is not a good one. There are obstructions (not that you could do anything about them), my eye keeps getting drawn to that gold spot behind the butterflies and the grass is a bit bright and detracts from the beautiful colors in the butterflies that you have manged to capture. But it is a collector's item.

By smokeydawg (2007-07-06 16:21:48 ): Great find Dan! Way to go listening to the other swallowtail. Does give a whole new meaning to "swallowtail" he he. Sometimes shots are just given to us, all we need to be is ready and open to see it. Nice job capturing this!

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