Amazing shots. It's great to see 'up close' the actual collecting of the pollen on the backs of the bee's. Quite a symbiotic (sp?) relationship. Again, amazing.
Really nice photos, Russ. Great composition, depth of field, light, the works. What f-stop were you using? Have the fritilliary butterflies moved in yet? If you haven't seen them, they look a little like monarch butterflies without the black lines, and their caterpillars love to eat passifloras. A few years ago (before I got into this kind of photography), the fritillaries swarmed my passion fruit vine and layed eggs all over it. I gladly let the caterpillars eat up most of the leaves, then they metamorphosed into more butterflies. The leaves grew back--a better deal than the carpenter bees eating up the external woodwork on my house (my experience in Florida).
Thanks John,
hey, it was nice shooting with you the other day.
I've been looking forward to seeing and photographing the fritillary butterflies this year again, but so far they're a no-show.
Maybe later in the year, but in the meantime the Carpenter bees stole the show.
In terms of the t-stop, most of these were shot at f16.
Looking forward to seeing you again soon at BC
:jawdrop There's really nothing i can say that hasn't been said already!!! WOW WOW WOW!!!!.....wow!!!! What really amazes me is the complexity of the flower; how the anther points down, to make sure it rubs against the bug's back... Nature never ceases to amaze me!! What bug wouldn't want to pollinate such a lovely flower!! In the third picture, call me crazy, but the bee kinda has a awe struck look on its face ;-)
All i can say is.... YOU ROCK!!!
Cheers!
Brige
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away..."
I really like the depth of focus in your shots - not something seen very much in the macro work i have seen elsewhere.
I agree with Gonzo and everybody else. Great shots. I took some shots of passion flowers and bees myself not too long ago but I'm not going to post mine for comparison!
According to the EXIF Viewer Firefox add-on, you were shooting at f/9, 1/1000sec, ISO 400 @ 100mm, and you used the flash. Is that right? The f/9 aperture accounts for the DOF that GonzoBernelli rightly notes in your shots. And the flash let you get that fast shutter AND the wider aperture. I'm going to try something like those settings here myself a.s.a.p. and I hope I can improve my own shot. Thanks for sharing - and for setting the standard so high!
:jawdrop There's really nothing i can say that hasn't been said already!!! WOW WOW WOW!!!!.....wow!!!! What really amazes me is the complexity of the flower; how the anther points down, to make sure it rubs against the bug's back... Nature never ceases to amaze me!! What bug wouldn't want to pollinate such a lovely flower!! In the third picture, call me crazy, but the bee kinda has a awe struck look on its face ;-)
All i can say is.... YOU ROCK!!!
Cheers!
Brige
Now that you've mentioned it "the bee kinda has a awe struck look on its face"
I have to agree. The flower closes at night and opens up again around noon,
it 's a treat to watch how the anthers pop, one by one, from the upward facing position back to the downward.
Thank you Briggie for your inspiring comment.
I agree with Gonzo and everybody else. Great shots. I took some shots of passion flowers and bees myself not too long ago but I'm not going to post mine for comparison!
According to the EXIF Viewer Firefox add-on, you were shooting at f/9, 1/1000sec, ISO 400 @ 100mm, and you used the flash. Is that right? The f/9 aperture accounts for the DOF that GonzoBernelli rightly notes in your shots. And the flash let you get that fast shutter AND the wider aperture. I'm going to try something like those settings here myself a.s.a.p. and I hope I can improve my own shot. Thanks for sharing - and for setting the standard so high!
Will
The above mentioned setting is correct for shots #2 & 3.
However, in these shots I actually exposed for the ambient light in manual mode and used the flash to fill-in the shadows.
Good luck and drop me a PM to let me know how it worked.
Comments
I use the Lumiquest "mini softbox" to defuse the flash
hey, it was nice shooting with you the other day.
I've been looking forward to seeing and photographing the fritillary butterflies this year again, but so far they're a no-show.
Maybe later in the year, but in the meantime the Carpenter bees stole the show.
In terms of the t-stop, most of these were shot at f16.
Looking forward to seeing you again soon at BC
All i can say is.... YOU ROCK!!!
Cheers!
Brige
My Smug Gallery
I agree with Gonzo and everybody else. Great shots. I took some shots of passion flowers and bees myself not too long ago but I'm not going to post mine for comparison!
According to the EXIF Viewer Firefox add-on, you were shooting at f/9, 1/1000sec, ISO 400 @ 100mm, and you used the flash. Is that right? The f/9 aperture accounts for the DOF that GonzoBernelli rightly notes in your shots. And the flash let you get that fast shutter AND the wider aperture. I'm going to try something like those settings here myself a.s.a.p. and I hope I can improve my own shot. Thanks for sharing - and for setting the standard so high!
Will
Canon: 5d Mk III, 5d Mk II, 50d, 50/1.2, 85/1.2, 35/1.4, 70-200/2.8 II, 17-40/4, 24-70/2.8, 100 2.8 macro
Laurie Bracewell Photography
I have to agree. The flower closes at night and opens up again around noon,
it 's a treat to watch how the anthers pop, one by one, from the upward facing position back to the downward.
Thank you Briggie for your inspiring comment.
However, in these shots I actually exposed for the ambient light in manual mode and used the flash to fill-in the shadows.
Good luck and drop me a PM to let me know how it worked.
Randy
http://www.CarolinaSportsPhotography.com/
Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!