Bee in Flight.

[Keith]

I thought I would try and capture a Bee in flight, I did not set up a hijacking place to do this , I just did it on a whim, hand held the camera and hoped for the best.
I can't say I am overwhelmed at the outcome, but after a some cropping and a bit of PP this is the result!
I now ahave a bee in my bonnet (pardon the pun) to get a better result

[Jim B.]

Keith,

I like the shot very much.Beecareful,next you'll be looking to buy a macro lens

Jim

[Keith]

Keith,

I like the shot very much.Beecareful,next you'll be looking to buy a macro lens

Jim

Already saving the pennies Jim, I am getting the bug, so to speak

[Geoff F]

As I have said before - Macro photography soon becomes addictive and expensive!

Hoverflies are generally easier but any flying insect is difficult. Obviously, you require a high shutter speed and small aperture which will mean setting an ISO to suit both.

A tripod helps by removing camera shake but causes other problems with a lack of flexibility. Auto focus generally works quicker than I can manually focus but you run the risk of your camera focusing on the background instead of the subject, especially problematic with those shallow depth of field shots.

Often just waiting ready focused on a suitable flower provides the best results.

Selective sharpening applied to the subject but not the background can often greatly improve the final results.

I suspect your bee is Bombus pascuorum but there are a couple of other possibilities from that angle. Not sure of the little bug sitting on the thistle; probably a form of Mirid Bug (sometimes called Flower Bugs) maybe a Potato Capsid which are very common at the moment.

[Keith]

Thanks for that Geoff, I am enjoying the challenge of the macro photography, I just wonder how much better results will be with a dedicated macro lens, I am thinking of getting the Nikon 105mm 2.8 vr if I can justify the price

[Geoff F]

I would go bigger than 105mm for insects. That is a good size lens for flowers, or other inanimate objects where you can get really close to the subject but for most insects you are lucky to get within 1 ft.

The 150mm is a popular general purpose lens and the Sigma version is well liked and possibly a bit cheaper. Personally, I use the Sigma 180 which gives a bit more working distance. But this comes at an increased price and is a rather heavy tripod use lens. I wouldn't worry about going down to anything like F2.8 for insect work.

I did have a go at a flying hoverfly today. The camera settings show the potential problems of this type of shot. 1/400; F14; ISO 800. I didn't want to risk more noise in a darkish scene by going above 800 and 1/400 is still a bit on the slow side.



Even then I think this photo has attracted a bit of noise during transfer to a low resolution jpg image. It also underwent a considerable crop and quite a bit of Curves.

It shows the difficulty of getting both wings in focus. You need to be directly above the insect for that to work well.

ps. I always like the way their hind legs tuck up and stream out behind the abdomen.

[Keith]

I would go bigger than 105mm for insects. That is a good size lens for flowers, or other inanimate objects where you can get really close to the subject but for most insects you are lucky to get within 1 ft.

The 150mm is a popular general purpose lens and the Sigma version is well liked and possibly a bit cheaper. Personally, I use the Sigma 180 which gives a bit more working distance. But this comes at an increased price and is a rather heavy tripod use lens. I wouldn't worry about going down to anything like F2.8 for insect work

Thanks very much for the tips Geoff, I have been looking at the Sigma lenses, I have a 150-500mm and the 10-20mm Sigma lenses and I am very happy with them, Sigma do seem to have quite a few fans in the Macro lenses, currently I am using my 18-200 Nikon lens for doing any macro photo's, sometimes I put a close up filter on if I know I can get really close.

Keith

[Geoff F]

I have used a 25mm extension tube on my Canon 70-300 with reasonable success and even used one on the Sigma 150-500 for long distance macro work. But both require a substantial tripod and good light.

However, for reliable all round macro photos you can't beat a dedicated macro lens.

[CNelson]

Good capture!

Chuck