Black Swallowtail

This image has been added to all of the PRINTS galleries.

I captured this image of a Black Swallowtail as it made its journey across our backyard. There is something about this month’s image that I like, but I cannot explain. I think that it may have something to do with the background. There is almost an artist painting-like quality to the background. When I cropped this image from the original, I purposely placed the Swallowtail on the pink Zinnia flower off center so that the slightly out of focus, golden yellow Zinnia blossom was incorporated. It acts as the perfect contrast to the Black Swallowtail. And in some sort of way, that background yellow Zinnia blossom also reminds me of fireworks. And with the observance of Independence Day in July, this just seemed the appropriate choice to represent the month.