Butterfly Conservatory Niagara Falls

The Niagara Falls Butterfly Conservatory is the perfect place to go for taking beautiful pictures of butterflies and flowers. The Butterfly Conservatory is located within the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens. In both the Gardens and the Conservatory all of the plants are labeled so you can easily identify what type of flower is in your photo.

The butterflies unfortunately are not as easily identified. They also tend to like to flitter and flutter about making them harder to photograph. However it is worth the time and effort as they are truly some of the most beautiful creatures that I have ever seen.

Personally I prefer taking my photos inside the conservatory as it has a controlled environment. That way I can get great shots without having to flee in terror whenever a bee shows up. No, I am not allergic to bees (that I know of), I am just a chicken. Let me give you a photo tour of my trip, if you are interested in going you can check out the prices and hours of operation at the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory website .

All Photos By:whatsittoyou

You can wander around the Botanical Gardens on your own while you wait for the Conservatory to open. If you chose you can also take a guided tour instead on a horse drawn carriage. There is a wide variety of flowers available to photograph.

You can plant some of the flowers that are on the Botanical Gardens grounds. Plus you can buy plants that actually attract butterflies!

When you have finished wandering the grounds it is time to head inside. When you enter the front door you are required to pay an entrance fee. It will cost you $15.26 with the taxes included. Then you can proceed through the next set of doors. In this area there is a gift shop and a learning center.

The learning center is where you can see caterpillars and pupa. They keep these out of the main room for population control. There are also displays that show the life cycle and migratory patterns of butterflies.

When you have finished looking around the learning center you can head inside to the main area where all the butterflies are located. They are completely free to fly about and even land on you. They will rest on the feeding trays, netting, plus the flora and fauna.

There is a pathway for you to walk along that is surrounded by lush greenery. You can take as much time as you want to wander around getting all the pictures that you want. If you reach the exit area you can walk past it and walk around again.

Some of the plants are extremely close making it very easy to get incredibly close up shots of the butterflies without requiring a telescopic lens. All of the pictures featured here were taken with my Rebel T3 with the standard lens that came with the camera.

Want to get great photos without having to be an experienced photographer? Then do what I did get a better camera. I just recently switched to a Canon Rebel T3 from my standard point and shoot camera. All of the pictures on this article were taken with my Cannon EOS Rebel T3.

I can't believe how much better the pictures look. I still do not know what I am doing, it is just that the auto focus and capabilities of the camera are much better.

If you don't have a conservatory near you this kit lets you watch as a caterpillar progresses to its chrysalides state, to becoming a butterfly. It is a fascinating opportunity for kids to learn about these beautiful creatures.

You can get some incredibly good close up shots of the butterflies when they land nearby. However there are blue butterflies that almost never seem to land. When they do they tend to close their wings together which covers up the color.

You need patience, luck, and a camera that has the ability to shoot continuous shots that will remain in focus. Fortunately I had all three and I was able to get some shots of the elusive Blue Morpho butterfly.