Before the thunderstorm rolls in, this tiny bumblebee visited my deck flowers. So I tried my hand at a BIF - my first success!! At least I think it is. I need to add flash to this kind of thing, but I work with what I have, you know? IRL she is a scosh over 1/2 an inch long and check it out - she’s cleaning her tongue! She did that for a second or two as she flew from blossom to blossom. This shot had the best sharpness, but she pulled in her back legs which is a bummer because it’s so cute to see them dangling down. Maybe I’ll see what detail I can rescue from that one after I whip up some potato salad.
Specific Feedback Requested
I’m open to ideas for the next time - any pointers or tips. I changed focus to a single point to grab her and the AFC did the rest. Having it on animal detect wasn’t the way to go which is the default for this Custom setting when I first turn the camera on.
Technical Details
Handheld leaning on the side of the house
Lr for a biggish crop and some work to raise shadows, lower the saturation and just improve the tonal range. Used the masking feature to do the bee and the background independently. Topaz Sharpen AI - Out of Focus Very Noisy model tweaked very slightly.
Kris, you nailed it! I have tried so many times to get bees in flight, especially coming at me as this one is. The orange in the flowers match nicely with the pollen on the bee’s legs. The tongue licking is just icing on the cake! He is multi-tasking! Just enough motion in the wings to make it look natural that he is flying and not just hanging in the air. I can’t think of a thing to improve this.
Thanks ladies! Bees are my nemesis, too, @Diane_Miller and I usually just delete like crazy. And yeah…I can’t believe she came right at me, @Shirley_Freeman. So cool. I loves them. I’ve been known to pat them.
Hi Kris! This is a great shot! My first impression was this is a fun image. (Not sure bees and fun should actually go together but there it is! ) Everything look perfect to me. Very well done!
Thanks @David_Bostock & @Steve_Kennedy - bees are fun! I have always loved them and especially bumbles. They’re so fuzzy and cute. I love to watch queens emerge in the spring and go around hovering just inches over the leaf litter in search of a new nest site.
What a lovely moment to have captured so well! I particularly like extra round and fluffy thorax. I find the slight blur on the left wing gives it a lovely water-like quality.
Thanks @mrbphoto - she is super fluffy - must be a newbie. They get more bedraggled as they age which isn’t that long - maybe a few weeks before they are used up and replaced by fresh workers.
Hi Kris, great to catch this bumble in flight - hard to do for sure! And I like the framing between the two purple flowers - really gives a feel he is moving through the garden right at you. well done.
Thanks @Allen_Sparks - I worried the purple was too much, but couldn’t reduce the saturation more without making it look really weird. The heading right for me angle I can’t take credit for at all!
) Everything look perfect to me. Very well done!