Butterflies & Dragonflies at Big Creek Conservation Area, Missouri

While hiking in Yosemite this summer, I realized how much I was testing the patience of my traveling companions every time I stopped to watch and photograph a butterfly. (On a previous hiking trip my dad made a joke about how I needed to have a bumper sticker on my back that says "I brake for butterflies" because I kept stopping and he kept running into me.) Well, this summer I decided that I should do my best to go out on my own photographing expeditions around the state where I could explore and stop to view butterflies without angering anyone. Yesterday I took that first step.

(click on photos to enlarge)

In Northeast Missouri, I spent about an hour in the Big Creek Conservation Area. I had the place completely to myself - which was not surprising as access was a gravel road and there really isn't much to do out there. My plan was to hike part of the Thousand Hills Trail and to see as many butterflies as I could. Though I'm not sure I ever found the real trail, to my surprise and complete delight, I saw several butterflies and dragonflies within ten feet of entering a dirt road at the end of the Rainbow Basin Trail road. I did not go far - thankfully as a sunny day quickly became a rainy day - but relished in the scent of wildflowers, listening to the wind whistle through the grasses, and enjoyed the peace and serenity of the scene.

I saw several crescent butterflies puddling in the patches of dirt road, and a couple of sulphurs who refused to let me get anywhere close to them. I also saw several species of dragonflies, and though I've not really attempted to get many pictures of these creatures before, I decided they fit the bill this stime. I tried to discover the names for all of the insects I photoed, but had little luck with some. Ones I really wasn't sure of are in parenthesis:

 Pearl Crescent Butterfly

 Pearl Crescent Butterfly

 Pearl Crescent Butterflies

 Pearl Crescent Butterflies

 Sulphur Butterfly

 (plains clubtail?) dragonfly

 (tailed blue?) butterfly

 (widow skimmer?) dragonfly

All photos copyright Katrina Kouba Boles

Yosemite Timelapses

This summer we spent 8 days at Yosemite National Park. It was wonderful, and I'll be sure to post photos when I'm finished going through all 3000+ of them. Until then, enjoy the timelapses I shot from the valley floor, the mist trail, and from our hike to North Dome.

Yosemite Timelapses 2013 from Katrina Kouba on Vimeo.

0:00 Half Dome from Valley Floor at sunset

0:17 Liberty Cap from the top of Vernal Falls (Mist Trail)

0:29 stars above Half Dome from Valley Floor

0:31 Half Dome from North Dome hike

0:48 Liberty Cap and Silver Apron from Emerald Pool on Mist Trail

1:07 Half Dome from Valley Floor during a rainy sunset

Music: "Black Eyed Susan" by Podington Bear (http://podingtonbear.com/)

Magic Realism painter Rob Gonsalves

While on our way home from California, we stopped in Lake Tahoe and found our way into a gallery there. They had many beautiful things, but I saw this painting on the wall and was stunned into just standing there and looking at it.

Widow's Walk by Rob Gonsalves

This painting, and many of the others around it, were created by Rob Gonsalves. Though others were just as stunning, if not more, this was the one that caught my attention and I realized the beautiful magic of it. I couldn't afford to buy one of his prints (and worried about getting it home if I had), but I could afford one of the beautiful "Imagine" books illustrated by Gonsalves. I purchased Imagine a Place.

Here are some of my other favorite images that I saw in the gallery or have found (online) since:

Medieval Moonlight

Stepping Stones

Carved in Stone

Doll's Dreamhouse

Be sure to check out Gonsalves' facebook page and official webpage, or purchase one of his books or calendars.

All photo copyrights belong to the artist. If he chooses to take them off facebook, they will also disappear here.