Butterfly Pavilion - Westminster, Colorado

                                                  “X Shot” information”

                                          Camera - Canon EO Mark III

                                          ISO - 800

                                          Shutter - 1/250 sec.

                                          F/stop - 2.8

                                          Lens - 100 mm macro

The home of 1,200 free-flying butterflies from around the world, brought me to The Butterfly Pavilion for my next shoot. The butterflies are in an indoor rain forest which is humid and hot. In the winter months, this could cause several problems. First, the glass in your camera and lenses will fog up when you go into the rain forest, if you have left them in your cold car. To fix this problem, wait in the parking lot for a few minutes with you engine running. Put your gear on the floorboards under the heater until they are warmed up. Then go inside the pavilion before they get cold again. Second, don’t wear heavy winter clothes when visiting! You will quickly become very uncomfortable. It’s best to dress for summer conditions. Yes, it might be snowing and 10 degrees outside but you will only be out there for a few minutes compared to the hours you will spend in the rain forest. A macro lens is a must if you want nice close-up images. Most of these photos were shot with a 100 mm macro lens. Also use your macro with an f/stop 2.8 and this will make the butterfly really stand out! The trick now is to keep the images looking different. By changing angles, backgrounds and the distance between the end of your lens and the butterfly you can avoid monotony. The morning sunlight was very nice because it made interesting shadows for me to work with and lit up the vegetation well. I only spent about one and a half hours shooting but it was plenty of time. If you are a professional photographer, you are required to talk to their marketing department before shooting. They can be reached at marketing@butterflies.org.  Otherwise just go and have some fun getting great shots. 

      “X Shot” Location Information

1. Drive time from Denver about 30 minutes.

2. Get off Boulder Turnpike at the Church Ranch Blvd./

    104th Ave. exit.

3. Go east on 104th for a short distance, turn right at their

     sign.

4.  Butterfly Pavilion is located at 6252 West 104th Ave.

     Westminster.  Web page address is 

     http://www.butterflies.org/contact.php

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Photographer

All photographs for sale, contact e-mail address below.

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com