This photo was made probably in 2005, in my Mother’s backyard using a Nikon F4 with a 80-200mm f/4 MF zoom lens on Fuji Velvia. I went through so much film that day trying to catch bees pollinating the poppies my Mom had planted in her garden. I can’t recall how much film I burned, but I do know only 4 photos came out, this was one of them and probably the best of the bunch.
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Pertinent Technical Details
Nikon F4, Nikon 80-200mm f/4 MF lens, set at f4 and the shutter speed was unknown but I had the camera set to Aperture Priority to force the fastest shutter needed. Focusing was the hardest thing with a manual focus lens. What I particularly like is how the shutter was fast enough to freeze the bee’s motion but not fast enough to freeze the motion of its wings. Processed in PS.
Youssef: Oh how I remember those film days with the slides on the light table and the trash can right next to it. Considering the 50 ISO of Velvia it would take strong light like this to get any kind of stop action. The bee still looks a little soft on my monitor but I do agree with you on how the SS rendered the wings. I loved Velvia but I love what we can do now even better. >=))>
Yeah, it was challenging and I was surprised at how quick I could get the lens in focus, and it really made me appreciate modern autofocus systems, and even though its built into my new D850, I rarely ever use it for landscape photos.
