2013 Blue Lion Year in Review- My #1 Photo of 2013!

With this post we finally arrive at my top image of 2013! While many of you probably expected my top image of the year to be something from my African safari, this image was by far my most "viral" image of the year. From the moment I posted it, it received lots of attention as far as total views, shares on Facebook, as well as Retweets and Favorites on Twitter. Without a doubt, it was THE favorite of the Blue Lion Pride during 2013!

If you missed earlier posting in the series just click on them below! 

PART 1   ~   PART 2   ~   PART 3   ~   PART 4   ~   PART 5

#1 - Malay Lacewing Butterfly ~
Texas Discovery Gardens  Dallas, TX

I took this image last spring at the fabulous Texas Discovery Gardens (TDG) in Dallas. It is a male Malay Lacewing butterfly. This species is found in tropical Asia - most commonly in Indonesia. The beauty of this amazing species speaks for itself and I know I go back to the TDG regularly in hopes of seeing this species as well as other closely related allies. Butterfly houses are a wonderful resource for nature photographers  as they usually possess licences to host exotic species of butterflies and moths that  most of us would never have a chance to observe due to both geography and timing. The TDG has the ability to host hundreds of different species at different times of the year depending up on supplier availability. As such, every time I go to visit I get a different "show" of species! In addition, butterfly houses need to have a collection of nectar producing flowers for the adult butterflies to feed upon. This benefits nature photographers because we then get to see and shoot some beautifully exotic flowers. If you've never been to a butterfly house ( or even if it's been a while) go ahead and look up your local one and spend a few hours there - it should be a special time to savor the intricacies of Mother Nature!  

If you are interested in more details about the Malay Lacewing, this post from the Butterflies of Singapore is a great resource! 

If you'd like to purchase this image for yourself or as a gift, please click the PURCHASE LINK to order your preferred size. As a reader of the Blue Lion Blog - I am offering a 20% discount on any purchase you make after reading this -- just enter the code BLOGREADER when prompted during your checkout! 

Thanks for visiting the Blue Lion Blog. Once again I appreciate your support! Here's to a fabulous 2014!

2013 Blue Lion Year in Review- Part 4 of 6

It's time to dive into the TOP TEN from 2013! This post counts down images #10 down to # 6. The ranking of my top ten is calculated by the response of Blue Lion Pride members on social media to these images over the year. As always, I am interested in YOUR thoughts about my images -- which ones excite you and which ones make you say "Meh"?  
If you missed ,y earlier installments -- do not fret you cam see them at the links below! 
PART 1     ~     PART 2     ~     PART 3

HERE GOES! 

#10 ~ Sable Antelope Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, Glen Rose, TX

#9 ~ Climbing Leopard ~ Ngala Game Reserve, South Africa

#8 ~ Blending In ~  Ngala Game Reserve, South Africa

#7 ~ Perching Julia Longwing ~ Texas Discovery Gardens, Dallas, TX

#6 ~ Aplomado Falcon (captive) ~ Hagerman NWR, Sherman, TX

Thanks for visiting! Please feel free to share my images with your friends on social media! Your support is very much appreciated! 
Once posted, just click to see PART 5 !

2012 Nature Photography Camp - Week 2 Afternoon Session

This is the final  posting of my 2012 Nature Photography Camp Series.

(FYI - This is a reposting of Nature Photography Camp Week #1 Morning Session and Nature Photography Camp Week #1 Afternoon Session, Nature Photography Camp Week #2 Morning Session, but the video clip has been updated to reflect this group of campers!)

This summer I had a great two weeks sharing my love of nature photography during my Nature Photography Camp hosted at St. Mark's School of Texas in Dallas. Each week, there were two sessions, a morning session from 8:30am until 11:30am and an afternoon session from 12:30pm until 3:30pm. The age range of the campers was from age 8 to 13.

In addition to learning the basics of the camera they brought with them or that we supplied, they learned about what makes a photograph interesting to an audience and how they could be think about the final result when they were actually shooting.

The campers took two field trips to have a chance to shoot a variety of natural settings - On Tuesday we visited the Texas Discovery Gardens which has a SUPERB two story butterfly house that was a thrill to explore. On Thursday, we visited the world class Dallas Arboretum to shoot a combination of the plants, flowers and the amazing Dale Chihuly glass sculptures on exhibit there until November.

At the end of the week, I had each of the campers submit three of their favorite images to a collection that they critiqued and which I share with you here. This video is the collection from the Week1 morning group. The week 2 Morning group will be posted tomorrow. The video from the Week 2 Afternoon group will be posted on Wednesday.

2012 Nature Photography Camp - Week 2 Afternoon Session

Should you have questions or interest in my Nature photography camp for Summer 2013, please feel free to email me by clicking HERE

Nature Photography Camp Week #2 Morning Session

FYI - This is a reposting of Nature Photography Camp Week #1 Morning Session and Nature Photography Camp Week #1 Afternoon Session, but the video clip has been updated to reflect this group of campers!)

This summer I had a great two weeks sharing my love of nature photography during my Nature Photography Camp hosted at St. Mark's School of Texas in Dallas. Each week, there were two sessions, a morning session from 8:30am until 11:30am and an afternoon session from 12:30pm until 3:30pm. The age range of the campers was from age 8 to 13.

In addition to learning the basics of the camera they brought with them or that we supplied, they learned about what makes a photograph interesting to an audience and how they could be think about the final result when they were actually shooting.

The campers took two field trips to have a chance to shoot a variety of natural settings - On Tuesday we visited the Texas Discovery Gardens which has a SUPERB two story butterfly house that was a thrill to explore. On Thursday, we visited the world class Dallas Arboretum to shoot a combination of the plants, flowers and the amazing Dale Chihuly glass sculptures on exhibit there until November.

At the end of the week, I had each of the campers submit three of their favorite images to a collection that they critiqued and which I share with you here. This video is the collection from the Week1 morning group. The week 2 Morning group will be posted tomorrow. The video from the Week 2 Afternoon group will be posted on Wednesday.

2012 Nature Photography Camp - Week 2 Morning Session

Should you have questions or interest in my Nature photography camp for Summer 2013, please feel free to email me by clicking HERE

Nature Photography Camp Week #1 Afternoon Session

FYI - This is a reposting of Nature Photography Camp Week #1 Morning Session , but the video clip has been updated to reflect this group of campers!)  

This summer I had a great two weeks sharing my love of nature photography during my Nature Photography Camp hosted at St. Mark's School of Texas in Dallas. Each week, there were two sessions, a morning session from 8:30am until 11:30am and an afternoon session from 12:30pm until 3:30pm.  The age range of the campers was from age 8 to 13.

In addition to learning the basics of the camera they brought with them or that we supplied, they learned about what makes a photograph interesting to an audience and how they could be think about the final result when they were actually shooting.

The campers took two field trips to have a chance to shoot a variety of natural settings - On Tuesday we visited the Texas Discovery Gardens which has a SUPERB two story butterfly house that was a thrill to explore. On Thursday, we visited the world class Dallas Arboretum to shoot a combination of the plants, flowers and the amazing Dale Chihuly glass sculptures on exhibit there until November.

At the end of the week, I had each of the campers submit three of their favorite images to a collection that they critiqued and which I share with you here. This video is the collection from the Week1 morning group. The week 2 Morning group will be posted tomorrow. The videos from both week 2 groups will be posted on Tuesday and Wednesday.

2012 Nature Photography Camp - Week 1 Afternoon Session

Should you have questions or  interest in my Nature photography camp for Summer 2013, please feel free to email me by clicking HERE

Nature Photography Camp Week #1 Morning Session

This summer I had a great two weeks sharing my love of nature photography during my Nature Photography Camp hosted at St. Mark's School of Texas in Dallas. Each week, there were two sessions, a morning session from 8:30am until 11:30am and an afternoon session from 12:30pm until 3:30pm.  The age range of the campers was from age 8 to 13.

In addition to learning the basics of the camera they brought with them or that we supplied, they learned about what makes a photograph interesting to an audience and how they could be think about the final result when they were actually shooting.

The campers took two field trips to have a chance to shoot a variety of natural settings - On Tuesday we visited the Texas Discovery Gardens which has a SUPERB two story butterfly house that was a thrill to explore. On Thursday, we visited the world class Dallas Arboretum to shoot a combination of the plants, flowers and the amazing Dale Chihuly glass sculptures on exhibit there until November.

At the end of the week, I had each of the campers submit three of their favorite images to a collection that they critiqued and which I share with you here. This video is the collection from the Week1 morning group. The week 2 Morning group will be posted tomorrow. The videos from both week 2 groups will be posted on Tuesday and Wednesday.

2012 Nature Photography Camp - Week 1 Morning Session

Should you have questions or  interest in my Nature photography camp for Summer 2013, please feel free to email me by clicking HERE

Nature's Rock Candy!

As I was going through my images from earlier this summer from the butterfly garden at the Texas Discovery Gardens in Dallas, I noticed something I missed before. Initially I liked this image of a Tiger Longwing butterfly because of how it was perched "stilt legged" on this leaf.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed the proboscis looked "funny" and saw it was covered in sugar crystals! Given that this species of butterfly likes passion vines with deep, tubular flowers, it seems sensible that the proboscis would get a bit of sugar on it. In this case the nectar dried and the sugar crystals formed - in essence unintended rock candy!

A Bevy of Beautiful Butterflies!

Yesterday I had the pleasure to spend several hours visiting the Texas Discovery Gardens at Fair Park in Dallas. I am ashamed to say after all my years in Dallas, I had never visited the TDG. They have the Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House which is a 2 story glass enclosed structure that allows you to see butterflies both on ground level and up at canopy level. They receive new shipments of butterflies daily, so there is a constantly changing diversity of butterflies and moths there. Below are a few of my favorite images from yesterday. I can tell I'll be visiting there often in the future!

Remember you can click on any of the images to see them in their original galleries!

Feel free to visit the good folks who share at Camera Critters and Macro Monday!

Orange Banded Butterfly Portrait

Orange Banded Butterfly

Doris Longwing Butterfly

Doris Longwing Butterfly Peeking over a leaf. (Look closely at the eyes!)

Julia Longwing Butterfly