Spring things

Cornflake

Yesterday I took about 120 photos of bees on some butterfly weed in my back yard. This isn't my usual thing but in some ways it's like photographing landscapes. Besides, it was fun. That's enough reason. sometimes. Criticism is always welcome.

1

2

3

denisegoldberg

That looks like fun! And I'm jealous of your flowers, still a while to wait here - this morning I woke to a heavy coat of snow.

My favorite is # 3, I think because it's really focused on the bee. The background color is wonderful too.

Cornflake

Thanks, Denise. The background color in the third one comes from out-of-focus geranium flowers. I worked at getting the bee lined up in front of one.

torags

Well done ...

I find macros challenging, but appreciate good work....

black mamba

Nice work, Don. As Rags said, macro shooting can be challenging. In my limited experience in that arena, though, I find the all-too-infrequent successes can be exceptionally rewarding.

Cornflake

Thank you both. I also find macros difficult but these were easier than I expected. The challenge was to get the bees in focus. I've always heard that you can't use autofocus up close with a macro lens, but I set it to AI Servo (Canon) and used back-button focus and it worked very well. Most of my failures were aesthetic, not technical.

Stumblebum

Getting macros right is so so hard......and you got it right and colors are spectacular and focus is sharp! Three stunning images! Why people shoot macros.

For #1, there is a bright green bokeh element on left side that is acting as eye pull and distracting....perhaps a square crop would solve that problem.

Cheers Don!

Juano

Nice shooting!

Cornflake

Taz, Cristobal, thanks. You're right about that background element, Taz. I'll see if I can fix it by reducing the contrast there and, if not, crop it.

Eia

Oh these really do jump out with such happy, vibrant colors! 2 and 3 are awesome and the bee's detailed eye is a bonus! This lens you have certainly is inspiring you; I'm really enjoying your photos taken with that lens!!!!!

Cornflake

Thanks, AnnaMaria. I'm having fun with it.

willard3

Nice, sharp and colorful.

Cornflake

Thanks!