Damselflies & Bumblebees

[Geoff F]

After the morning fog dispersed there were a couple of hours patchy sun before the afternoon rain; so I tried to make what I could of the interlude.

First damselflies of the year. A Large Red and an immature Common Blue. Hopefully I will get other shots with better backgrounds etc as the year progresses but it is always nice to see the first ones of the year. Even if, like these, they are a bit skittish so I only managed a quick shot from several feet away.







There were several Bombus pascuorum bumblebees feeding on a patch of bluebells but they were moving quicker than I could focus!

By the time I had found a good angle on the flower and focused; my models had moved on to the next location. This is the best from several attempted shots.

[John 2]

Nice set and beautifully sharp Geoff. No1 stands out slightly but only because the comp is slightly better.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[IzzieK]

I like #1 Geoff -- very nice. The colour is really complimentary to the background
#2 if you do not look at it FF, it could have merge with the background. Got to see it FF to see how nice it is...
#3 and #4...I am amazed at how deep these bees can go inside the flower just to get to the pollens. Must be really sweet enough to sacrifice being suffocated by the petals every now and then...

[jprzybyla]

Good work Geoff, nice color and detail.

[flashback]

Geoff,
I'm more partial to three and four, mostly I think because of the viewpoint, kind of straight on instead of from above. But also the color and texture of the flowers is excellent and really makes the images. Plus it reconfirms the notion of 'busy as a bee.'

[Geoff F]

Thanks for the comments. I did play about with the angle of #2 to find the best crop; and thought about spending more time changing the background. I have already blurred it and reduced the brightness.

But there will hopefully be a lot more, and better, shots to be had in the future.

I did get fairly low to find suitable angles for the bees, and tried to shoot at single or small clusters of blooms to reduce the background complications. However, try telling the bees where to perch!

One other thing which I was attempting, was to get a clear view of a bee's head, but only managed one suitable shot, where the background flowers were looking a bit on the tatty side.