This session is most definitely the most magical and one of the most memorable family portrait sessions to date! I got together with an awesome past client of mine to photograph the release of her butterflies with her two boys and mom!
For a few years now I’ve been following their adventures in raising Monarch Butterflies through photos on facebook and have fallen in love with the images she’s taken of them going through the life cycle then seeing the boys releasing the butterflies in their yard. It was such an amazing experience to be able to be there and witness it first hand. I’ll tell you it was really hard for me to keep my eyes behind the camera as I was in as much awe as the boys were and couldn’t help but want to jump in on the action myself!
We all met at an arboretum nearby their house to release this group of butterflies, 25 in all. The arboretum was filled with flowers that the Monarch Butterflies would be able to feed on, giving them a better chance of survival. This family has been raising these butterflies for a month now, and this isn’t the first release they’ve done this year – they raise hundreds of butterflies each year! I can imagine these little guys remembering this for the rest of their lives.
When we met, the butterflies were inside a mesh enclosure (fancy term for hamper! haha) and eager to explore the world!
At first, we took them out one by one, letting the boys hold them and gently place them onto nearby flowers.
I learned that the Monarch Butterflies shake a little bit on the flowers to warm themselves up. It was so cute to watch them do that!
Some of the butterflies even landed on their noses and heads!! How amazing!
Everyone got to hold one by the end of the session, including me! While in the middle of photographing, one landed on my left hand! <3
Once we released about half of them one-by-one onto flowers, we decided to walk over toward another garden at the arboretum to release the rest in one swoop. On the way the coolest thing happened!
We looked down on the ground and there was a Pipevine Swallowtail Caterpillar on the ground! The boys immediately wanted to pick it up and play with him. Mom grabbed a nearby leaf to pick him up with and we each took turns holding and petting the caterpillar. Afterwards we placed him on a nearby tree where we saw he and his family had been eating already… Look at those chewed up leaves!
When we got to the other garden we set the boys up, had them open the hamper and let them all go!
This was such a cool family portrait session! I am over-the-moon excited about these photos and the entire experience! Thanks for bringing me along on such a cool adventure and teaching me all about taking care of butterflies! <3
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