I shot this today at our Wisteria bush which is starting to bloom out and attract a few bees.
Any
Any
Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 180 macro lens, handheld. Settings manual except ISO, f5.6, 1/2500, ISO 1000. Edited in LR, cropped vertically, AI Clear in Topaz.
Shirley: Nice job getting the face sharp. I’m a little surprised that there is so much wing motion at this SS but it works for me. Many kudos. >=))>
Always nice to catch these bees flying, Shirley. Well done. For the comp I would have liked to have the flower not cut at the bottom. But I know that is hard with a Wisteria, you always cut flowers.
Really wonderful focus on the bees eye @Shirley_Freeman. I love the soft colors and focus of the background too. Great capture.
Hi Shirley, great job getting the bee sharp where it counts. Love flying shots of bees - very challenging - well done here.
Shirley, the sharpness of the bee’s head and thorax are outstanding. The variety of colors in the wisteria and in the background add a fine warmth and make for a very inviting image, with the bee dominating the viewing.
Hi Shirley,
The head of the honey bee is nice and sharp. Wing speed is not constant and the motion blur in the wings is due to this fact. The only way to freeze the wings is to use multiple flashes set at low power. Not easy to do with insects. You may want to try a tighter crop too. Well don…Jim
Excellent capture of the bee’s head, Shirley, the insect set beautifully against a multi-coloured ground. Getting it in flight is a real bonus !
Great capture of the bee in its environment Shirley! Since you are a macro moderator and I’m a newbie to macro photography I have a question: If I had captured this image I would have processed it in either this color version or maybe even in BW. What do you think of these interpretations? Thanks, JT
John, on this shot, I never even gave B&W a thought, but I like what you did. I think it makes the bee stand out more, and not distracted by the colors of the flowers. Indeed, I am a moderator, but I feel so inadequate at times. We all have a place here at NPN, and even if someone is a moderator, that is just a position that we attend to as volunteers. So, no matter at what level we might feel we are at, I think we are all learning from each other, and that is what I love at this site. Thank you for showing me what this bee looks like in B&W. I love it much better than color. I will have to remember to try B&W more often. I started my photography journey back in the days of B&W (dating myself now), so you would think I would try it more often. Again, thanks.
Glad that you like the black and white Shirley.
Regarding feeling inadequate, if a photographer (myself included) says that he/she doesn’t have days when all their work looks like crap . . . they’re lying.
As far as dating oneself is concerned, at my age, there are many days when I feel as if I’m past my expiration date.
I think that unless color is the predominant feature of a creature (see what I did there?) black and white can emphasize their shape and form.
Yes, I look to learn from the honest feedback on this site as you do.
JT
Very nice Shirley! I’m impressed as I was doing the same in my back yard the other evening and know the challenges of getting the focus just correct to show the eyes of the bee. You nailed it my hats off to you! I like your color treatment here, would you consider a slight more contrast or is this where your artistic intent is desired?
Thank-you for sharing stay safe.
Thank you for your comments, Michael. I hadn’t thought of more contrast, as I felt the bee stood out nicely as is. If I had added more contrast to just him, I think it might would have been too much, and if I added it overall, it might draw the eye more to the flowers, so I guess, in answer to your question, this was my artistic intent. Thank you though. It is always good to look deeper into why we do or don’t do something, and in this case you made me think about it more thoroughly. Yes, bees in flight are a real challenge. I am so thankful for the modern camera’s capability to focus well and so fast.
