A Life in Pictures

Originally I was going to start a series of posts that would have one picture a day. The picture would inspire a story that would talk about the why, what, where and when aspects of the photograph. I may still do that, but the title that summarizes the whole thing is “A Life in Pictures.”

I am a Photographer

The difficulty for me is selecting one pic good enough to be the basis for a story. Mostly, we are overrun by the vast number of pictures taken and submitted somewhere online every day. There are billions of photos posted every day – and most of them are not worthy of a second look.

So I am searching for a few pictures to publish, and when I find them I will write the story. The butterfly picture is the story for today.

Monarch Migration in Mexico

When and Where

Let’s go back in time to February 20, 2012. It was our fifth or sixth trip to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. We had been talking about taking some tours to places near San Miguel. We wanted to go to places that were remote from mobs of tourists and large cities. Our friend (and tour guide) suggested a trip to the mountain refuge where the monarch butterflies migrate every winter. It was a few hours from San Miguel, so we’d plan to leave early. Once we got there it would take another hour or two on horses to get to the butterflies. The decision was easy – let’s do it.

Kathy and I along with her parents took the trip and it’s one that we will never forget. Here are some of the pictures from that day.

The half frame pictures were taken with an Olympus Pen FT camera on Fuji Velvia slide film. Obviously I scanned the side by side frames and decided to include the sprocket holes. The other pictures were taken with a Nikon D7000, which was my favorite digital camera at the time.

It was a full day of activity – leaving early in the morning, and returning home late that same evening. What a memorable day, creating stores and pictures to remind us so that we will never forget. I have read stories about how the area is now in danger due to natural as well as man-made issues. I would love to go back there and capture the magical images again now that I have better camera gear. But, whether we go back or not, we have this one to remember.

More Pictures