Sleeping Bee

[leonardturner]

My favorite time for flower photography is very early morning, before the air is made unstable by heating and before the bees begin to hunt for breakfast. Attracted to the radial pattern of this Althea blossom which had opened for the first time the day before but did not reopen this morning, the 40 image focus stack produced in camera revealed the occupant of the flower hotel before he waked and pursued his morning rounds.

Leonard

[Guido]

A work of art!

Maybe a black and white conversion?

[leonardturner]

Thank you, Guido--much appreciated.

Leonard

[MarkSturtevant]

You have a good eye for finding the right moment!

[leonardturner]

Thank you, Mark, but your kind comment is undeserved.

Confession time: I never saw the bee until running the stack on the computer. Not long after dawn, the Althea bloom was found low to the ground, not fully opened, and I was intrigued by the radial pattern of the 5 petals and determined to shoot it on the basis of that. As the stack processed, I saw the bee emerging, which was exciting in the way that watching photographic prints develop used to be, but with the extra kick of serendipity.

You probably know this, but Sleeping Bee (or Sleepin' Bee) is an old jazz classic, in the repertoire of many great singers.

Leonard

[Dalantech]

Really nice shot!