Interesting Photo of the Day: Butterfly Wing Macro

Interesting Photos  •  Macro Photography

The beauty of macro photography lies in its ability to capture the intricacies that lie in everyday things. Looking at a macro photo, even the most mundane-looking subjects appear much mesmerizing. This fact is even more relevant when photographing natural subjects. Looking at macro photos of nature makes us truly realize how incredible our world is. Take the following macro image shot by photographer Robert Lang of a butterfly’s wing:

“Scales in a Butterfly’s Wings” by Robert Lang (Via Reddit. Click image to see full size.)

This is an extreme macro shot of the bottom-surface wing scales of an Australian meadow argus butterfly. Lang shot the image using a Nikon D7500 attached to a bellows and focusing rail with an AmScope 10X plan microscope objective as the lens. He also placed one flash to shoot through the wing and another one at a tangent to the wing to highlight the textures of the scales.

Prior to coming across this image, many of us might not have even known that butterfly wings have scales. In fact, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was an image of a fish scale.

“If you hold one by the wings, the scales rub off onto your fingers.”

The arrangement of the scales with a beautiful gradation of colors is incredibly satisfying. Moreover, what’s so intriguing is that while the white scales are scalloped, the orange and black ones are smooth. This really makes us realize that nature is indeed wonderful.

Were you aware that butterflies have scales on their wings?