This is a Morpho peleides butterfly I captured in Mexico. The neon-blue color is simply dazzling. Morphos typically fly so fast, and so erratically, that it's impossible to take a picture. When they rest, normally their wings are folded. To get this picture, I found a park in a small Mexican town that had railroad tracks running through it. The tracks led to a tunnel, and butterflies that used the cut in the jungle as a flyway wouldn't fly into the darkness of the tunnel. They approached the opening and turned around. That's where I stood with a butterfly net. After trying to catch one of these incredibly fast Morphos for two hours, I finally succeeded. I gently folded the wings above its body and put the butterfly in an envelope (to prevent the wings from fluttering and causing damage) and then into a cooler. At this time, I met two young girls who were curious about what I was doing. In my pathetic Spanish, I explained I was going to take pictures of the butterfly. I then met their father, and he invited me to their house for a meal. I ended up using their refrigerator to cool the butterfly to the point where it couldn't fly (butterflies require about 55 degrees F to fly). When I took the Morpho outside and put it on a leaf, it opened its wings to gather warmth from the sun, unable to fly for a minute or two. That's when I took the shot. My settings were 1/125, f/32, 100 ISO, and I used an on-camera flash. The Morpho had finally warmed up its wing muscles and took flight.
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