Monday, September 05, 2022

The Buzzing

I am not quite sure how to go about taking macro photos of fast-moving bees. By the time you locate them and begin to focus, they are just about ready to fly off to the next flower. There were loads of them on our joe pye, but focusing is extra hard on this plant because there are so many spikey heads. It's not as though there is a solid background of one big petal, but there are so many bits to try to grab the focus.

One tries, however, and this is how it went once day last week. At least part of the bee is fairly sharp, even if the much of the picture is blurry. For that reason, I think that is why the third photo is probably the best of the three, with not too many distractions. The one flower that is there fits well and is not too out of focus.

That said, however, the face is captured better in the first two images. Sigh . . . nothing is ever quite right.

  



I am thinking about how I might be able to do this better. If I get a good day, I may try again, but the flowers have been blowing fiercely in the wind every time that I think to check.

13 comments:

Patio Postcards said...

WOW those are amazing close up photos of the bee.

Happy belated birthday to you; it looks like you were celebrated in style. & Well done you breaking the 10km goal :)

I sympathize with your pain of trying to find the perfect wet (canned) cat food. My two fur girls love love one type for a month & then go off it. Pate is the most preferred type of wet food for cats & yet I see they are making more chopped varieties. My girls are not pleased.

Barbara Rogers said...

Lovely buzzing photos!

Jenn Jilks said...

Really well done! You are right, the bees do tend to bumble!

Jeanie said...

I think you're being a little hard on yourself. These are just beautiful!

Debby said...

I love to watch bumble bees and hear them too. Does your camera have a function where it can snap multiple pictures one right after another automatically. If you're lucky, one of those might be a keeper.

Marie Smith said...

I think these are great, AC. I especially like the first one.

gigi-hawaii said...

Good captures with your lens! I like how you celebrate your birthday with 2 great meals instead of only one. Again, Happy Birthday! Aloha from Hawaii!

RedPat said...

I think that you did a fine job especially with the wind.

Margaret said...

I like all of them. The bee has a rather cute face. I didn't expect that.

roentare said...

These are wonderful macro! In my younger years, I learnt as an apprentice to some insect photographers who often spray any vegetations he can see with sugar water. That would immobilise any insects on the plants.

Also, a polystyrene cup is essential to trap insects around us after using a high-power flashlight to stun insects of interests. I know it sounds cruel but that is what it takes to get shots for a living lol.

For infight bee, the common technique is to turn off AF doing manual focus pre-set at a spot waiting for insects to fly by. Not too different to sports photography especially racing cars. It is a patience game similar to street photography. So is luck!


MARY G said...

Perfectionist! These are splendid. Have you thought of putting up a cardboard blocker? My best friend's father used these and my friend had to hold them. Hey, two grandkids.

DJan said...

I like them all! Good job getting the bees in focus. :-)

William Kendall said...

Terrific shots! We had the same idea today.