Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
A tiny bee on Purple Coneflower.
Couldn’t get the legs sharp with the bee and moving too much to focus stack. Is that too distracting?
Canon 7D mark II, sigma 150 macro, 1.4x teleconverter, 430 EX II Speedlite with Angler diffuser.
ISO 400, f32, 1/250s, hand held
Hi Allen,
that’s a beautiful shot of a bee. This little critter has been quite busy, considering how much pollen it is covered with.
I don’t mind that the legs are not sharp. The eye, the body and the wings are nice and crisp.
But I wonder about the depth of field with the aperture you used. Using F32 I would expect enough dof to get the legs sharp. Just for my curiosity: Is this perhaps an effect of the teleconverter?
I never thought about using a teleconverter in combination with a macro lens… But I’m still new to the macro business. 
By the way, you just motivated me to go right back out with my macro lens!!!
Oh she’s gorgeous! I really like the twin arcs of the bee and the flower head. She certainly is dusty! Don’t sweat the legs, you have plenty of sharpness where needed. Maybe two things to try - lifting the mid-tones a bit and cooling the wb just a hair - better color separation is what I’m thinking.
I got out with my rig the other day, including flash, but wasn’t this lucky. Part of the issue is none of our flat, open flowers are blooming yet and I get a lot of bee butts in cylindrical flowers! 
@Kris_Smith @Jens_Ober
Kris, Jens, thanks for the comments!
Jens, I imagine the teleconverter reduces DOF some even though I’ve never tested how much. Trade off is more working distance from subject and being able to get more magnification on tiny subjects.
Very nicely done, Allen!
I like the colors and low key lighting in this.
I like the position of the bee in the frame and the coneflower, too!
Very nice!
Allen, I am sorry I am late to the party. Still trying to catch up where I was out of town for a few days. Our Purple Coneflowers are blooming now, so hoping to get some bees and maybe butterflies on them soon.
What needs to be sharp is sharp. Legs don’t bother me. It would have been nice but we don’t always get what we want. I like @Kris_Smith suggestion about the colors. I think it might help. I need to be thinking about getting my 180 mm on the R5 when the bees start coming to our Coneflowers.
