Original image…
Is this a composite? (focus stacks or exposure blends are not considered composites)
Venessa, he sure looks like he has his eye on the prize, for sure. Headed right for the flower. For my taste, I would prefer the bee not be so close to the edge, both top and side. It just feels tight to me. Still, you captured him in flight, and I am still trying to get a good in flight shot of the bee. I just haven’t been able to get out there much lately. I did get another jumper the other day, but haven’t had a chance to finish editing it and posting.
Can’t wait to see your jumper! Yeah, I agree @Shirley_Freeman that the bee is a little crowded, what are your thoughts on the original image?
Good that you don’t have blown out highlights here – that makes the flower so much better. Some more shadow and highlight work would be good if you haven’t gone as far as the file information will allow. The bee is a bit far from the flower for the best relationship. If you can shoot in burst mode it might allow you to get the bee closer but that’s easier said than done, and maybe you did what you could. Bees in flight are not easy.
These types of shots are difficult to pull off and take a lot of practice. I have taken a few successful images with my old Pentax equipment and success was generated with an aperture that provided sufficient DOF and fast shutter speed (1/2000-1/3000 sec.). Your success rate rate will increase when the bee closes in on its target. Well done…Jim
Thanks @Diane_Miller and @Jim_Zablotny for looking and your feedback! Yes, I do have a lot of shots with the bee closer, except you can’t see her face or it’s not quite sharp. She just is too eager to dig in! But I’ll have to try a higher shutter speed as you mentioned @Jim_Zablotny and see what happens!
Vanessa, I’m sorry I am slow to get back to you on your question about the original image. I think even though the bee isn’t as close to the edge of the image, @Diane_Miller mentioned that the bee is a bit far from the flower for the best relationship. I should have made that clear too when commenting. I am still impressed that you are getting sharp images of the bees in flight. I think @Jim_Zablotny gave good advice, a high f-stop number with a high shutter speed can accomplish that feat best, but the lighting has to be really good, or your ISO will be so high that it is going to bring noise into the image.
