I spent a fair amount of time stalking butterflies this weekend, as they fluttered from blossom to flower to leaf. The sun created some very simpatico backlighting, as the vibrant flowers danced and flickered in the breeze, as if they had wings of their own. 

I did manage to capture some images that I was quite happy with, and I got plenty of exercise as a side benefit, following the tiny creatures from place to place. I'm not an expert, but I believe that these are some genus of swallowtail.

At one point, I was near a patch of phlox. and one little butterfly was persistently visiting the flowers, unlike its rather more capricious brethren. When I framed it up in the viewfinder, however, I realized what a mess it was, not just missing the bottom quadrant of one wing, but with tattered edges all over, and absolutely zero symmetry. Initially, I turned my attention elsewhere, searching for something more elusive and more photogenic, but then I realized that this battered little insect was in fact truly beautiful because of those very scars and differences and asymmetries. The greatest obstacle was letting go of my own preordained canons and rules.