Mandatory bee/flower shot

[Artshot]

Nobody can resist spring fever and the required bee in flower shot. Thought I'd get mine in early and avoid the rush. Let me know how to improve in the months ahead.

[Shadowman]

Nice shots.

[DanK]

Nice captures. Kudos on the second; I know how hard it is to get a BIF (bee in flight) photo.

I'm envious. It will be a long time before the bees are back here.

It seems that the exif information has been stripped from the photos, so there is no way to comment on settings.

One suggestion: because it is often not practical to get an entire medium size bug in focus, it is important to decide what you can allow to go out of focus. As a general rule, bug shots look better with the eyes in focus. It's hard to tell precisely at this size, but it looks to me like you slightly missed this in both.

[rpcrowe]

Nicely done!

[Stagecoach]

A good result especially capturing the one in flight.

As Dan mentions, the shooting data would be useful.

[Artshot]

Thanks for the replies. I've been using Google the past year to share photos. It has lots of great features including exif, but won't link with this site. Might have to switch to a paid service.

These shots were with a vintage micro 105mm handheld with natural light. There were more bees than flowers so I just had to focus on the flower and wait for a bee to show up. After shooting in dark and fog for 2 months, a sunny day without gloves makes it all seem much easier.

[Wavelength]

Very nice; i think the flower is the same in the other image; yes, eye is a bit oof, yet i liked them

[Geoff F]

I assume these are Honeybees going by what I can see of the wing veins.

[Artshot]

I assume these are Honeybees going by what I can see of the wing veins.

I can only guess they are honey bees as I know nothing about wing veins.
Might be time to buy a modern insect guide book, the one I have is full of errors.

[NorthernFocus]

I really like the first one. Both have lovely color and detail but the angle on the critter in the second one is less than optimal IMO. But I'm not a bug guy

[Artshot]

I really do love to get those bug eyes in focus. but with my eyes a lot of luck is needed.

[NorthernFocus]

I really do love to get those bug eyes in focus. but with my eyes a lot of luck is needed.

Awesome.

[DanK]

I assume these are Honeybees going by what I can see of the wing veins.

You know vastly more about insects than I do, but I think it is almost certainly a honeybee, as very few species native to North America have hairs on the compound eyes rather than just around them.

[DanK]

I really do love to get those bug eyes in focus. but with my eyes a lot of luck is needed.

A great capture. All I know is that it is a hoverfly, but Geoff might be able to ID what species. Is this a crop from a larger image?

[Artshot]

A great capture. All I know is that it is a hoverfly, but Geoff might be able to ID what species. Is this a crop from a larger image?

It's a rather large crop, as my lens is only 1:2. Just wanted to show some eyes.

[Artshot]

I really like the first one. Both have lovely color and detail but the angle on the critter in the second one is less than optimal IMO. But I'm not a bug guy

I put the first one first because I thought it was a more interesting photo.

[Geoff F]

Definitely a hoverfly, which might be identifiable from a wider shot. At the moment I would be leaning towards one of the Syrphus/Eupeodes species; or something rather similar.

Honeybees have a very long wing cell on the outer front edge of the wing, as well as hairy eyes and a thickened hind leg.

[Wavelength]

Superb macro !!!