Another Bumble Bee

[selig1656]

RSF_4129 crop9x16 by Raymond Friedman, on Flickr

This was cropped.

[Shadowman]

Were you afraid of getting closer and spooking the bee, I know some can be very flighty?

[selig1656]

Restricted access and would have disturbed the bee.

[Shadowman]

Restricted access and would have disturbed the bee.

Understood.

[DanK]

Restricted access and would have disturbed the bee.

If you are willing to devote time to it, you should be able to get much closer (in settings where that is allowed, of course). In my experience, most species of bumblebee are quite calm and will tolerate your getting very close as long as you move slowly. I have found that I can get close enough to fill the frame with one using a macro lens. For example, here is an old shot that is as taken, before I cropped or edited:



It just takes practice, patience, and a willingness to throw out most of one's shots because they are out of focus or the bee has moved. They are also very gentle. I have spent years standing in bushes and flowers trying to capture closeups of bumblebees, and never once has one tried to sting me. Some other bees and wasps are much more skittish, and some wasps are MUCH more aggressive.

I have found that the biggest problems with bumblebees are first, that they can move very quickly, and second, that immediately on landing, they dive in head-first, making it impossible to get a photo of anything but their backs. I actually don't photograph them much anymore because even though they let you get close, it's very hard and takes a lot of luck to get an interesting, in-focus closeup. It's a pity, as a sizable share of the pollinators in our garden are bumblebees of one sort or another.