The caterpillar was challenging to photograph. Most of the pics I took were no good; they came up with that hard white burned look, even though the late afternoon light was gentle.

Only images of the caterpillar itself looked overexposed. The polished blades of grass didn't reflect that way. Unlike through the camera, to the naked eye, the whole caterpillar looked green.

Maybe the skin of the caterpillar is unusually reflective, designed to dazzle and confuse predators. Maybe the light emanates from the caterpillar itself. Caterpillar aura.

And the subject was traveling. It seemed to be hungry, trying to take a bite of grass or a leaf, then moving on as though, nope, this isn't what I eat. I've never seen a caterpillar like this before--and it was the only one around this afternoon.

Ain't it beautiful with the little starbursts of green? 99.9 percent of my blog photos are taken with my Sony Cyber-Shot, 4.0 megapixels, and it's been a trusty friend. But creatures like this nudge me to get something more sophisticated than a point-and-shoot, a camera with a more powerful lense that could do the caterpillar's beauty justice.