Be kind...first attempts at moving bee

[mikerault]

A carpenter bee, shot hovering/flying about using 90-300mm zoom, manual focus, natural light. Cropped to 50% then "eliminated" background clutter (it was all blur anyway) Not really macro per se but hey, you ever try Macro on a moving target....oh ya, manual focus since auto freaked out trying to follow the bouncing bee...

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t155/mikerault/bee_flight2_bd800.jpg

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t155/mikerault/bee_butt800.jpg


How do you shoot moving critters with macro, especially at bee speeds?

Mike

[mikerault]

Of course to be fair, before you criticise go outside and try to capture a moving bee on your digital with or without macro...:D

I found if I wore "wood" color clothing (khaki green pants, faded yellow shirt) and stood real still they would come over and look me up and down real good. If you move real slow and don't startle them they actually get quite close.

[LordV]

Look good to me :). very difficult to catch bees or bugs in full normal flight- virtually impossible with a macro lens. You can of course get hovers or bees when they are approaching flowers with a macro lens.
Brian V.

[jhn]

Well done. I have been trying for weeks to do this.

[mikerault]

I am not sure if the carpenter bees do the flower thing...they just bore half inch holes in exposed wood surfaces...Make my facia boards look like swiss cheese!

[dpastern]

Looks reasonably good to me, these are difficult buggers to grab in flight, I've long since given up. You've done a pretty good job of it. I did manage to get a blue banded bee in flight a week or so ago, but the IQ just wasn't good enough for me to warrant posting it on here...

Dave

[mikerault]

Embedded larger images

[Dalantech]

You mean a shot like this? ;)

http://dalantech.smugmug.com/photos/67720933-L.jpg

Or this? ;)

http://dalantech.smugmug.com/photos/69166624-L.jpg

What about this one? ;)

http://dalantech.smugmug.com/photos/73158588-L.jpg

Don't get me wrong -you are off to a good start. But if you're gonna shoot bees in flight and then challenge other people to critique you only if they can do it then you're gonna get run over on this forum. I'm sure I'm not the only one with a few bee in flight shots -shoot bees long enough and you'll take a few. IMHO -based on my own shooting- if you are going to post any insect shot the eyes have to be in focus. You can get away with a little bit of motion blur, but your shots are badly out of focus.

Next time turn off the auto focus and put your hand on that focus ring -I've almost worn out the focus ring on my 100mm macro lens...

[mikerault]

Nice shots! Like I said...first attempt...using a non-macro long lens...

[Dalantech]

Nice shots! Like I said...first attempt...using a non-macro long lens...

Only pulling your chain -it was a good first attempt. ;)

[mikerault]

This any better?
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t155/mikerault/BeeintheHolly800.jpg

Mike

[Dalantech]

The eyes still aren't sharp, and the highlights are blown. Try shooting from -1/3 to -2/3 EV and set your camera to shutter priority and select a shutter speed that will let you hand hold that lens -might be some motion blur. Don't worry about the aperture, just get the eyes in focus. Like this:

http://dalantech.smugmug.com/photos/130683967-L.jpg

And here's a shot from about 5" in front of the lens (100mm macro + 25mm tube). This one is moving, but because the flash was the primary light source I managed to freeze him:

http://dalantech.smugmug.com/photos/137440962-L.jpg

Practice, lots of practice...

[mikerault]

Great shots! I'll keep working on it!

Mike

[Dalantech]

Great shots! I'll keep working on it!

Mike

Bees are an addicting subject because it is VERY satisfying when you nail the shot...