Fall cone flowers and hungry bees

[SquarePeg]

Went outside to take a couple of quick snaps of one of my plants for the weekly challenge and ended up getting obsessed with watching these bees at work. I think I sat there for about an hour soaking in some golden hour vitamin D and trying to get a shot of a bee in flight flying right towards the camera. That was a fail but I think some of these came out pretty good. These were taken with the Lensbaby Velvet 56 so some are intentionally soft. Your comments and critique are always welcomed.

1
golden hour bee by SharonCat..., on Flickr

2
fall cone flowers by SharonCat..., on Flickr

3
fall cone flowers by SharonCat..., on Flickr

4
busy by SharonCat..., on Flickr

5
fall cone flowers by SharonCat..., on Flickr

 

[Space Face]

Interesting set and very colourful.

I had a look at the exif on the first and see you have used a very high ISO, which might explain why it's so noisy. I also had a look at it with a little NR applied and it really made a huge difference. I was gonna post it but figured you maybe wouldn't like that. I don't think it is if done for the right reasons but sometimes it's seen as rude.

 

[SquarePeg]

Interesting set and very colourful.

I had a look at the exif on the first and see you have used a very high ISO, which might explain why it's so noisy. I also had a look at it with a little NR applied and it really made a huge difference. I was gonna post it but figured you maybe wouldn't like that. I don't think it is if done for the right reasons but sometimes it's seen as rude.

My photos are "ok to edit" so feel free!

 

[Space Face]

Interesting set and very colourful.

I had a look at the exif on the first and see you have used a very high ISO, which might explain why it's so noisy. I also had a look at it with a little NR applied and it really made a huge difference. I was gonna post it but figured you maybe wouldn't like that. I don't think it is if done for the right reasons but sometimes it's seen as rude.

My photos are "ok to edit" so feel free!

Yeah, I did see that so if you don't mind I'll fire it up in a moment. If you don't like, I'll take it down.

 

[Space Face]

Interesting set and very colourful.

I had a look at the exif on the first and see you have used a very high ISO, which might explain why it's so noisy. I also had a look at it with a little NR applied and it really made a huge difference. I was gonna post it but figured you maybe wouldn't like that. I don't think it is if done for the right reasons but sometimes it's seen as rude.

My photos are "ok to edit" so feel free!

Yeah, I did see that so if you don't mind I'll fire it up in a moment. If you don't like, I'll take it down.

Damn, it says the file is too large. I'll have to reduce it.

 

[Space Face]

 

[SquarePeg]

View attachment 198743

Thanks for the edit, I appreciate the input. Viewed up close it looks like some of the detail of the pollen on his face is blurred by the NR. I don't really think the original is too noisy although admittedly it does have noise. I definitely don't consider 3200 to be a high ISO on the XT2. I may try to selectively reduce the texture/noise of the background without affecting the bee...

 

[terri]

I'm really loving that top one, the first one you posted. I like how much detail is there - you can make out every tiny little hair on the back of that bee! The noise doesn't bother me, as it appears very soft, and the main subject and beautiful colors draw the eye right there. Nice work!

 

[Space Face]

View attachment 198743

Thanks for the edit, I appreciate the input. Viewed up close it looks like some of the detail of the pollen on his face is blurred by the NR. I don't really think the original is too noisy although admittedly it does have noise. I definitely don't consider 3200 to be a high ISO on the XT2. I may try to selectively reduce the texture/noise of the background without affecting the bee...

Hmmmmm, that's strange when I initially looked at the exif on Flickr it showed the ISO to be 12800 for some reason, hence I said it was high. You are right tho, 3200 is not particularly high for modern cameras. There is a fine balance between NR and sharpness as you suggest, personal taste I suppose. Cheers

 

[SquarePeg]

View attachment 198743

Thanks for the edit, I appreciate the input. Viewed up close it looks like some of the detail of the pollen on his face is blurred by the NR. I don't really think the original is too noisy although admittedly it does have noise. I definitely don't consider 3200 to be a high ISO on the XT2. I may try to selectively reduce the texture/noise of the background without affecting the bee...

Hmmmmm, that's strange when I initially looked at the exif on Flickr it showed the ISO to be 12800 for some reason, hence I said it was high. You are right tho, 3200 is not particularly high for modern cameras. There is a fine balance between NR and sharpness as you suggest, personal taste I suppose. Cheers

Photo #3 was at 12800, that is probably what you were looking at and yes that one is pretty noisy. I was using auto ISO most of the time. Most of the shots were between 1600-3200 but I must have blocked the light with the lens on that one. The Lensbaby Velvet has a very short focal distance when you expand the lens to get the macro look and it's difficult to get that close and not block the light!