台灣蝴蝶寫真

百蝶爭豔  台灣蝴蝶羅申芳攝影集自序

六年來只做一件事，追蝶、拍蝶。

回想當初， 選擇蝴蝶做為攝影的題材時，內心毫無恐懼，還真的有一股傻勁。想拍蝴蝶，當然要知道蝴蝶出沒地在哪裡？所以研讀蝴蝶相關資訊，勢在必行。每一次追蝶，都是 經驗的累積，絲毫僥倖也沒有，尤其在追尋稀有的國寶寬尾鳳蝶時，更是艱辛！一年又一年，一次又一次前往宜蘭太平山，循跡守候，當牠突然之間降臨在面前時， 我心撲通狂跳，腦海呈現停滯，手腳微微顫抖，緊盯目標，反射性的動作就是狂按相機快門，喀喀作響。

寒冬離去，今年的春天卻依舊微寒。過去追 蝶的每一個地方，似乎逐漸褪去光彩，不再是蝴蝶孕育的理想環境。還記得每年初春的北部山區，水蜜桃花綻放盛開時，總是吸引我瘋狂的追逐，只為拍攝升天鳳 蝶，卻不是每一回都能如願，有時山區濃霧不散，有時蝴蝶停駐時間過短，有太多的因素令人扼腕，讓追蝶的過程備感艱辛。

台灣擁有盆地、平原、 丘陵、高山、溪流等豐富的地形，加上潮濕溫暖的氣候，不同的環境、植物孕育不同的蝴蝶，雖然調查資料統計出台灣有四百種以上的蝴蝶，其實比較吸引普羅大眾 欣賞的蝴蝶，應該只有百種左右，尤其是二十多種鳳蝶，翩翩飛舞更是矚目的焦點。在這一本攝影集中，你可以一窺蝴蝶斑紋排列的奧妙和絢麗的色彩，細細品味美 麗的構圖，都是非常自然活潑、充滿生命力的。

每一次追蝶的過程，經常是唯一的機會，所以不可能重來。環境在變，蝴蝶面臨無法生存的窘境，選擇更換棲地；然而，追蝶的路程遙遠，覓蝶蹤及長時間的苦苦等候，真正能按下快門的時間卻少之又少，所以這六年來已累積按過四十萬次以上的快門，僅留下幾百張經典之作。

由於蝴蝶體型微小，其觸角猶如兩支能接收訊號的天線一般，只要空氣稍有流動，就會敏感的閃避，因此遇到龐然大物，莫不盡速飛離現場。所以為了取得牠的信任，只能屏息以待，把自己當成植物一般，才能換得數秒的時間來猛按快門。

秉 持著跟時間賽跑的精神，從平地的郊野，甚至到低、中海拔的山區，我不斷南北奔波，穿梭在北部橫貫公路和中部橫貫公路東段，尤其雪山隧道貫通後，前往台七甲 公路的次數更是不知凡幾，走訪埔里更是頻繁，東部的花蓮、台東也屢屢造訪，目的只有一個，以鏡頭展現蝴蝶多元之美，公諸於世，與您分享。

羅申芳2011.04.15

Author’s Preface: The Beauty of Butterflies

For the last six years, I am just doing one thing - chasing and shooting the butterflies’ pictures.

Retracing the very beginning, when I chose butterfly as my theme focus of photography subject, I am just a bit of silly without giving any further thoughts.  Naturally, if you try to take pictures of butterfly, you will have to find out where they can be.  I just have to study all the relevant information about butterfly while each pursuit and chase is an accumulation of unique experience.  It is the most difficult task when you are looking for the rare famous Broad-tailed Swallowtail (Agehana Maraho).  There is no simple luck to speak of.  I went to Mt. Tai-Ping in Yi-Lang so many times, year after year, following the supposed routes, and just so when it popped at the front of my face, my heart almost jump out of my stomach with my thoughts turn into a blank, my hands and feet were trembling – my eyes fixed on the target, the sounds of camera shutters flapped under the reflective movement of trigging finger.

 The cold winter finally left, but the spring air is still chilly deep inside the mountain.  The places I used to visit seems losing its bright colors and no longer an ideal nourishing environment for butterflies.  I still remember the northern mountain in every spring time at the blossoms of peach flowers that always lured me just for the fever of chasing Pazala Eurous asakurae (Matsumura), but not always fulfilled as I wished.  The dense fog inside the mountain is not yet dispersed, or the time for the butterfly to stop is too short; there are too many factors make people regret which is the hardship faced by the butterfly chaser.

The rich landscape of Taiwan is full of basins, plains, running hills, high mountains, and brook streams and with all sort of vegetation environments and humid warm climate which is the perfect breeding ground for the different species of butterfly.  According to the data of research statistics that Taiwan has more than 400 species of butterflies.  Among them, there are only around one hundred various species of butterflies that attracts the mass population of people, especially more than 20 species of Swallowtails which is the focus of butterfly watcher.  In this photographic collection, you are able to peek into the profound combination and permutation of butterfly wing patterns and its brilliant colors which is full of esoteric beautiful composition, full of natural, vivid, active life force within it.  

You may call each chase a unique opportunity of its own which cannot be reproduced all over because the environment is changing and the existence of butterfly is facing the plight of its survival that they are changing the roost and the migration route.  Even though the mileage of butterfly chasing is long, the search and the long hour of waiting is hard, the time to click the shutter becomes fewer and fewer, the total of shutter pushes are more than 400 thousand times, what I have selected here in this album is only a few hundreds of my best classic works.

The butterfly is tiny, and its tentacles are like antennas are capable of receiving the sensitive information in the sweet air.  Once it sensed a huge creature around, it will get away at the short instance of moment.  For capture its picture, you will need to lay low holding on to your breath as if you are a plant just to gain a few seconds of shutter pushing moments.

With the spirit of racing with time, I have travelled back and forth from north to south, from the outskirts of plain to the low and high level of mountain regions, and often shuttled in Cross Island Northern Highway and the east section of Central Cross-Island Highway.  After the opening of Snow Mountain Tunnel, the countless trips on the No.7 highway were numerous.  The visits to Pu-Li, the east coast of Hwa-Lien and Taitung were frequent with only one objective of capturing the dynamic beauty of butterflies to share with all of you.

Shen-Fang Luo, in 2011.04.15