Honey- and bumblebees: testing a new diffuser

[DanK]

I went out this afternoon to test my new high-tech device: I reconstructed my coke can diffuser by replacing one of the layers of baking parchment paper with two layers of paper towel, in an effort to reduce glare on bugs. Here are two shots of honeybees and two of bumblebees, all shot 1:1 to give myself an easy time. you can see the hairs on the honeybees' eyes again. The face-on view of the bumblebee is a pretty substantial crop, but the others aren't. The yellow flower is a kind of rudbeckia. The whitish is sedum, which is just now starting to flower and is attracting a lot of pollinators.

The bottom line: paper towel is really the way to go, but two layers is better than one. It also seems to help to drop down the flash's wide-angle diffuser.

C&C welcome, as always.

[Nicks Pics]

All very nice. Those buzzers are tricky. Your device seems to work!

[IzzieK]

Dan...I like #2 best because the bee is more in focus here with the background just the right colour to pop it out. #1 is a bit too yellow and I think it needs to be rotated so it can be viewed better with the bee up looking down; #3 you did very well in the shot of the hairs. I wish I have that good hairdo at times...at least it looks manageable. I like #4 too...the reflection is just that not glaring... I think you have achieved what you wanted in this shot...it is perfect...as is its hairdo. Cute.

[rudi]

Nice series Dan.
Your new high-tech device seems to work well. Nice soft light, no hard shadows.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[Slipper]

Few hot spots Dan and nice soft lighting, no real shadows..
I have used two layers of towel, but still get some hot spots and a bit of a problem with hairs on legs etc being a bit bright. You must have more upmarket towel than me.

[bnnrcn]

Hi Dan I'm not a macro shooter but I love seeing macros in CinC. So my comments may not be very technical but I like them all and I find #4 more artistic.

[chauncey]

I'm not much of an insect shooter so...why use a flash at all? Does it help with freezing the action???

[DanK]

Thanks, all.

Chauncey, there are lots of reasons to use flash. It does freeze action, as you suggest. Often there is insufficient light in macro work to use a fast shutter speed to freeze action and still have a reasonable aperture. When there is a lot of direct sunlight, the lighting can be harsh, and it is often not in a good direction for the shot. I often use flash even in bright sunlight for those reasons.

John--the paper towel was from Costco . Brian Valentine ("Lord V"), one of the best macro photographers I know of, recommends paying attention to the background and adjusting FEC accordingly. I find that helps a bit with the bright spots. However, sometimes you just get a reflective surface (e.g., with bottle flies' bodies, or bees' legs), and it seems impossible to avoid the problem altogether. BTW, Brian does a lot of his work much closer than I do, with an MP-E 65, and he wrote me recently that he thinks that is one reason why I have as much of a problem with reflections as I do: the closer the better, and the tiny distances I have at 1:5:1 or 1:1 are bigger than many of his.

Dan

[Wavelength]

So lovely

[Brownbear]

Thank you for sharing Dan. Very informative.

All lovely shots but my favourite is the 3rd image for the beautiful details of the bee captured so softly set on a an equally beautiful and soft background. Brings to mind a pastel coloured painting, very different for an insect macro.

[DanK]

thanks everyone

[FrankMi]

A marvelous set Dan! Like Izzie, I love to explore detail so for me, the second one is my favorite.