Lantana

Of all the "butterfly plants", Lantana is my favorite. For one thing, it is native to Florida, so it will not become invasive, but mostly for its delicate little flowers and its range of colors.

In my yard, I have the all lavender variety, but this multicolor variety was found at Sawgrass Lake Park in St Petersburg, FL. I'm fortunate to live about 1/2 mile from Sawgrass Lake, and it's one of the most popular nature parks in the area. Being so close, I can visit it every day. It's also free to get in, so there is no reason to stay away.

This park has lots of American Alligators, and I think of all the times over the years I've visited Sawgrass, I've seen Alligators in every visit but one or two. There are many native plants, many species of birds and plenty of wildlife to be seen. All one has to do is walk through the boardwalks being quiet and aware of sounds on the trails. There's also a beautiful overlook where one can see many shore birds as well as 'gators and turtles. There are also two separate butterfly gardens, which is where I made this image.

Settings for this image is as follows: I used ISO 400 because of the heavy canopy in this park. I was trying out my new 90mm Macro lens on this floral cluster shooting hand held at 1/25 second (pretty slow for this focal length) at F11 for good depth of field. I used partial metering and aperture priority which I use for about 90% of my shooting.