by the little moth
As I sat down at my desk yesterday morning, my eye was distracted by some movement in the window next to me – a tiny pale moth fluttering between the screen and the closed casement window. It must have become trapped there the previous night when I closed the window against the cool night breeze.
I’m amazed to find so much detail captured by the camera, in spite of the screen in between lens and moth. Not such a plain Jane cousin of the butterfly after all. After posing quietly for the camera, it happily flew away when I opened the window.
Interesting how just using the camera resulted in such a lovely encounter, when otherwise I might have ignored the little moth. It stayed in my thoughts all day.
July 26, 2007 in Nature, Photoworks by Marja-Leena
How beautiful. Powerful creatures moths.
Beautiful. I always think that moths are so much more generous with their beauty because when they pause they leave their wings open. Butterflies close theirs. I also love what your camera has done with the screen, especially in the first two pics.
The screen makes a mesmerizing pattern of the background colors. You clearly have your own sort of patience to see and translate for us such wonders. I’ve missed you.
TG – thanks, and yes, moths are powerful, even this one with a 2 cm. wing span.
Olga – I agree about the moth’s generosity. Yet they can seem so plain, until I saw these enlarged photos on the monitor and was really amazed. The screen effect is quite lovely, another surprise for me. The third photo, by the way, is an enlarged crop of the second one, to show the interesting details on the head and body.
MB – So wonderful to have you back, I’ve missed you too! I love the background too. It’s like seeing with another eye that can see more (of the moth) than one’s own and and at the same time translate screen and outdoors so beautifully.
Miten kauniit, hennot värit ja siipien pinta kuin hienoa samettia (erityisesti keskimmäisessä kuvassa). Luonnon taidetta parhaimmillaan! Kiitos tästäkin, Marja-Leena!
Exquisite! It looks like it’s screen-printed on a tie-dye background.
Viides rooli – kiva kun mielytti ja kiitos kun kävit kylässä!
Lucy – thanks. Yes, I thought the same about the background. I was quite excited how the photos turned out, like a happy accident.
I must admit that my own, fairly recent appreciation for small, apparently nondescript moths owes less to my own observation or camera use than to my perusal of nature blogs.
Dave, I admit to not visiting too many nature blogs regularly, except yours, because of lack of time, but I do find some inspiration from them. I suppose my own interest still tends to be more concerned with the visual beauty and surprises in the photo medium. The subject sometimes just presents itself when one’s eyes are open, right?