A "Macro Look" at the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina

This week I wanted to post one last blog on our trip to the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. This time I thought it would be fun to focus (pun intended) on the smaller things in the area.

Our first stop was in a nice little town called Sylva, which has this great old courthouse. I had a great time photographing the architecture and surroundings, but found myself equally captivated by the butterflies. Living in Northern California, we really don't see that many butterflies throughout the year, but in NC they were everywhere. So this blog looks at some of the tiny creatures of the Smoky Mountains.

I was really captivated by the beautiful blue colors in the wings of this species. For these photos, I was using my Canon 5D Mark III and the Canon 28-300 lens, which is a perfect camera / lens combination for walking around a new environment. I like that I can shoot wide shots, and then zoom in and capture images like these.

And the beautiful markings of orange and blue.

I caught this butterfly in flight (which is not very easy to do, and get in focus). Sometimes I even get lucky.

A couple of days later (in between a lot of wedding photography), I had some more time to photograph the insects of the area. This time, knowing that I would be shooting these little guys, I switched to the Canon 100mm macro lens so that I could get even more up close and personal with the insects.

As I have mentioned many times in the past, I just love shooting macro shots, because it shows us the details that we normally do not see.

Here are a couple of insects enjoying each other's company. It wasn't until after looking at this on my computer that I noticed the smaller bug in the flower below them, and the hitch hiker on the top bug.

This time, the flowers have the color and the butterfly does not.

You can't help but be amazed at the patterns on these little creatures. So beautiful.

And the natural colors...

...and patterns too.

Oh... I was having so much fun shooting these!

Oh, and we saw a not-so-small creature too. We were driving near a lake when we came across this bear. No macro lens for this one!

If you have not been to the Smoky Mountains, I would recommend it. My goal is to get back to this area to see the fall foliage in the next couple of years.