Bee on Thistle

[Mauravdl]

One busy bee - no matter how much I chided her, though, she would NOT turn around to face me.

Lessons learned:
1) Even a bit of a breeze can suck when trying to get these shots
2) I can manually focus after all
3) An ADHD 9 year old does NOT make a good "flower stabilizer"
4) Need to move to center-weighted or spot light metering.

Canon 7D
50mm f/1.8 prime + 12mm Extension Tube
ISO 400
1/200 shutter
f/4

Note: I put this in this gallery instead of the macro gallery because I don't think I'm in the land of macro at this size. I apologize in advance if I am incorrect.

 

[Arkanjel Imaging]

This could surely go in the macro section. But is equally at home here. :thumbup:

1. correct, macro + wind = frustration (its simple math)
2. typically, for macro, its easier to set your foucs and shift your body to get the parts you want sharp.
3. uh, no
4. would help. You can also use your EV comp. Shooting macro can be tough using just natural light as it tends to be harsh.

You have a good start there. If you had a higher f-stop this image would be more impressive. f4 is super tight dof at this range.

 

[Derrel]

Hey, not too bad! It has a light,ethereal, summery feeling of a bee on a bull thistle! Glad to see that you have an extension tube. I think it might be easier to shoot this type of stuff with the lens stopped down to a smaller aperture, maybe something around f/11 to f/13. I agree with you that this shot is fine in the nature gallery....this is not technically a "macro" photo, but rather a close-up shot.

 

[myfotoguy]

That's good, especially under the conditions.

I was shooting flwoers with a non-macro lens the other day and the same thing. The bees were always turned the other way! Don't they know!

 

[Mauravdl]

This could surely go in the macro section. But is equally at home here. :thumbup:

1. correct, macro + wind = frustration (its simple math)
2. typically, for macro, its easier to set your foucs and shift your body to get the parts you want sharp.
3. uh, no
4. would help. You can also use your EV comp. Shooting macro can be tough using just natural light as it tends to be harsh.

You have a good start there. If you had a higher f-stop this image would be more impressive. f4 is super tight dof at this range.

Thanks for the tips!

Haven't tried the EV comp. I'll read about it and try that. The default evaluative light metering is definitely too much for these photo walks in the current weather and time of year.

About a week ago I was convinced I wasn't able to focus manually. I'm just pleased to be able to I'll play with moving my body too.

The 9 year old makes a great insect spotter but quickly loses interest and holding a flower still (sorta) for mom is NOT very fun to him. LOL. At least he likes to go on walks with me to take pictures.

Thanks again!

 

[Mauravdl]

Hey, not too bad! It has a light,ethereal, summery feeling of a bee on a bull thistle! Glad to see that you have an extension tube. I think it might be easier to shoot this type of stuff with the lens stopped down to a smaller aperture, maybe something around f/11 to f/13. I agree with you that this shot is fine in the nature gallery....this is not technically a "macro" photo, but rather a close-up shot.

Thanks, Derrel. I do like the overall feel of the picture, despite the uncooperative camera-shy bee.

I'll definitely try a smaller aperture. I was hoping to blurr out the rather busy and ugly background but maybe I can find a balance between isolating the focal object and blurring the mess behind it.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Mauravdl]

That's good, especially under the conditions.

I was shooting flwoers with a non-macro lens the other day and the same thing. The bees were always turned the other way! Don't they know!

Thanks for the compliment - I like it and each one (bad and good) is teaching me something.

The bees were decidedly uncooperative. Maybe they knew I'm allergic and were waving stingers at me so I'd leave them alone?

 

[EricD]

Nice capture! Wind is your biggest enemy when shooting a macro shot,