My best Bumble Bee in flight to date

[greybeard]

Done with my old cheapo 70-300 ED non VR at f/8 and 1/640 with fill flash. I had to manual focus it.

 

[CanadianBandit]

Under exposed sorry.

 

[MiFleur]

It is very exiting to take a focused bumble bee that is flying, It is a very good shot, I love the movement of the wings!
I would be proud to take such a shot! Not an easy one since you are in a back lit situation.

 

[greybeard]

Under exposed sorry.

Any more exposure and the whites would be blown out.

 

[greybeard]

It is very exiting to take a focused bumble bee that is flying, It is a very good shot, I love the movement of the wings!
I would be proud to take such a shot! Not an easy one since you are in a back lit situation.

Thank you. I used a SB910 flash that really helps when shooting against the sky. I really got luck too. Amazing that the wings are still blurred at 1/640 of a sec.

 

[greybeard]

Here it is cropped a little more from the top and bottom. Anymore would be pushing it.


Bee in flight-3 by Greybeard16, on Flickr

 

[TimothyJinx]

Wow, that is an amazing shot!

 

[shefjr]

WOW!!! Manual focus!!! I would never have gotten that shot! Really an impressive capture. I too would be proud to have taken a photo like that.

 

[cgipson1]

Done with my old cheapo 70-300 ED non VR at f/8 and 1/640 with fill flash. I had to manual focus it.

Nicely done with a very difficult subject! You even managed to capture some detail in the eye...cool!

Under exposed sorry.

Really? Hmmm... I would have to disagree!

 

[greybeard]

Thank you all for the kind words. The auto focus with that lens is so slow and simply would not detect the bees so I just turned it off after many fail attempts. There were several bumble bees almost swarming around my back porch so this wasn't as hard as you might think. I focused at about 2.5 meters and waited for them to come into focus. This one hovered right in front of me for several seconds so I just touched up the focus and snapped away. Like I said, I got lucky.

 

[cgipson1]

Thank you all for the kind words. The auto focus with that lens is so slow and simply would not detect the bees so I just turned it off after many fail attempts. There were several bumble bees almost swarming around my back porch so this wasn't as hard as you might think. I focused at about 2.5 meters and waited for them to come into focus. This one hovered right in front of me for several seconds so I just touched up the focus and snapped away. Like I said, I got lucky.

Try renting a 70-200 2.8 VRII... <wink>!

 

[greybeard]

Thank you all for the kind words. The auto focus with that lens is so slow and simply would not detect the bees so I just turned it off after many fail attempts. There were several bumble bees almost swarming around my back porch so this wasn't as hard as you might think. I focused at about 2.5 meters and waited for them to come into focus. This one hovered right in front of me for several seconds so I just touched up the focus and snapped away. Like I said, I got lucky.

Try renting a 70-200 2.8 VRII... <wink>!
View attachment 44015

I'm jealous of that shot.

 

[cgipson1]

Thank you all for the kind words. The auto focus with that lens is so slow and simply would not detect the bees so I just turned it off after many fail attempts. There were several bumble bees almost swarming around my back porch so this wasn't as hard as you might think. I focused at about 2.5 meters and waited for them to come into focus. This one hovered right in front of me for several seconds so I just touched up the focus and snapped away. Like I said, I got lucky.

Try renting a 70-200 2.8 VRII... <wink>!

I'm jealous of that shot.

Trust me, that lens is unbelievable! In spot focus.. it just focuses, no hesitation at all. I had fun shooting nothing but flying Dragonflies for couple of days... Flying critters do add a bit of difficulty! lol!

 

[greybeard]

Try renting a 70-200 2.8 VRII... <wink>!

I'm jealous of that shot.

Trust me, that lens is unbelievable! In spot focus.. it just focuses, no hesitation at all. I had fun shooting nothing but flying Dragonflies for couple of days... Flying critters to add a bit of difficulty! lol!

The 70-200 VR II is just out of my price range right now. I'm wondering how the 70-300 VR does with flying bugs.

 

[cgipson1]

I'm jealous of that shot.

Trust me, that lens is unbelievable! In spot focus.. it just focuses, no hesitation at all. I had fun shooting nothing but flying Dragonflies for couple of days... Flying critters to add a bit of difficulty! lol!

The 70-200 VR II is just out of my price range right now. I'm wondering how the 70-300 VR does with flying bugs.

It is a great lens... but it is a little bit slower on the focus then the 70-200. But it would be worlds ahead of the 70-300 you have.... IQ wise, focus wise, etc....