Back at the botanical gardens again I came across this flower that the bees favored. sitting on a small chair I get close to the bee and watch while I am shooting. She just landed here and her tongue I could see going out. Amazing small insects.
Specific Feedback Requested
This was cropped some about 40%. I am wondering about a square crop if that works better.
Technical Details
R7 rf 100 f/2.8 1/500 f/11 iso 640 Photo AI to reduce noise and adjusted the background noise and increased shadows a bit.
She is lovely and has nice full pollen baskets, too! The backlight brought up such detail in her fuzziness. Only recently have I noticed honeybees in the yard and since we’re not directly near farmland where someone might keep beehives, I think that the ones I’ve seen are wild bees. So cool.
Anyway…I’d like more room under her butt to be honest, but the rest of the environment is pretty nice that I’m not sure how I’d crop it further. It’s welcoming and sort of reminds me of a protective blanket for bees and other pollinators. If I had to make a choice, I’d cut out the bud and move the shot down into the frame below her, assuming there isn’t something else there to compete with her.
Nice that you have gardens like this nearby. I do miss some of the things only summer brings here. It’s definitely our nicest month.
Thank you, @Kris_Smith. I agree with having more room on the bottom. When a subject is vertical like this I think about a portrait. I like this view as well and not sure if I should remove the last part of the bud on the ULC.
Hi Dean,
I almost have to use a stool when out on shoots, so sitting and waiting is now a preferred technique
Yes, these insects really are amazing and much needed for the ecosystem.
I really like the composition as it is, I feel the bud adds a lot of interest, its part of the story and it doesn’t detract from the bee in my opinion.
The tongue working on the flower is a bonus that adds to the story.
The colors and lighting, exposure, DOF are all great!
I do think a square crop would make an already great capture even better, I tried it on this image and it helped to bring out the bee, and removing a little of the stalk from the left seemed like a good move.
f11 was a good choice, just the right amount of DOF.
I’m posting a comparison just to show where I would crop it at in a square format.
It’s just another opinion and it’s still a great composition as is.
Thanks @Merv I do like other opinions because it’s great to see others think. Sitting and waiting really pays off. I have seen a bee come to a flower with a broken wing, leave for about 20 minutes and come back to the same flower. Amazing how they manage to get back to the same flower.
Bees are amazing, and as @Merv mentioned, much needed to our ecosystem. I too enjoy photographing them. I have a little 3-legged chair/stool that I have been known to use while photographing macro shots too.
I like that gave more room at the bottom of the image. I actually like what you did with the new crop, but the square works too. Just goes to show that there isn’t just one way of doing things. We need to try various ones until we are satisfied with the results. Excellent look at the bee.
