Pearl Crescent
This Pearl Crescent butterfly rests peacefully in a bed of white and yellow flowers. According to “An Instant Guide to Butterflies” by Pamela Forey and Cecilia Fitzsimons, male Pearl Crescents patrol their territory and will fly at other butterflies and insects.
Mourning Cloak
Weekly Photo Challenge: Color
Forest Sunrise After the Snow
Snow fell on Richmond Thursday night. A few inches accumulated but it was nearly all gone within 24 hours. I took the day off Friday and hiked through Pocahontas State Park. This photo was taken as the sun rose over the forest. The park was beautifully covered in snow and I had the place to myself. I hiked for 5 hours and never saw another person the entire time.
Quiet Place Among the Boulders
A friend and I hiked a 6.6 mile loop in Shenandoah National Park, specifically to get photos of waterfalls. Our hike passed three significant falls but this little cascade at the top of one of them yielded my favorite photo of the day. It isn’t very dramatic and I think that’s what I like about it. The image makes me think of a quiet, little, almost secret spot, you could visit to get away from the world for a little while.
Doyles River Upper Falls
When I reached the upper falls on the Doyles River in Shenandoah National Park, the lighting was horrible. The foreground and most of the photo above and to the left of the falls were bathed in bright, direct sunlight. The falls and most of the photo to the right of them were in dark shadow. So I bracketed like crazy and combined two of the resulting photos to produce this HDR image of the scene.