On a beautiful summer day, late July 2025, I took this photo in a picking garden.
Once or twice a summer I go here for a bouquet and I usually take my camera with me, to photograph flowers, bees and butterflies.
This Thistle butterfly was sitting on a pink Zinnia and the light fell so beautifully on its wings. The flower was also highlighted in the natural sunlight, which is already softening as summer passes.
The Thistle butterfly has one of the longest migrations among butterflies: from the Sahara to the Arctic Circle. This butterfly overwinters in North Africa and the Middle East and migrates north again in spring. In the Netherlands and Belgium, you can often spot them as early as May.
Favourite nectar plants include zinnia, thistle, butterfly bush, field thistle and knotweed.
Caterpillar and host plants include thistles and nettles.
Photo location: Pluktuin De Tuinderij, IJzendoorn.
As the daughter of a photographer, photography has been a big part of my life. I love nature and especially flowers, so you see this most in my work. I have worked as an independent make-up artist for over 15 years, developing my eye for detail. Composition.. Read more…