The trail I was walking.
when I was young, I always enjoyed the posters that looked like you could just walk right into the picture and be part of it. I've always wanted to be able to take that kind of picture....

So I'm walking along this nature trail, and look ahead, and see a butterfly alight -- not on a beautiful flower, but right down on the ground, and it starts walking around, looking for food. It would rise up, but kept coming back, almost as if it was posing for me. So I obliged it by snapping a few shots. In this one, it was walking right towards me.

Testing the macro function of my camera

It finally decided to show me it's good side....

It gave me a profile view, right before it decided it was finished posing and flew away.

and there it goes, flying away, leaving behind a memory of its beauty and the joy of those few brief moments of interaction.

When I worked at a summer camp, we used to sit on the bridge over the creek, and watch the dragonflies. I was always struck by their iridescent beauty. This one posed for me alongside the trail. No sooner had I taken the shot, and turned to continue walking, than I heard a sudden noise. I looked down just in time to see a snake slither off the trail into the bushes, a few inches in front of me. After that, I looked down more frequently, as I walked.
I went to crop the photo, and decided to leave it as is.

Found near the Oconee Waterfall, at Oconee Falls State Park in South Carolina.