I've been trying to photograph Sweat Bees as they collect pollen from Sourgrass flowers but it hasn't been windy enough, so they can tell when I grab onto the flower's stem. Here's a couple shots of them leaving a flower after figuring out that I'm close.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (over 2x and 3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC, second curtain sync). This are single, uncropped, frames taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI, Denoise AI, and Clarity in that order.
Sweat Bee in a Sourgrass Flower by John Kimbler, on Flickr
Sweat Bee in a Sourgrass Flower II by John Kimbler, on Flickr
Photographing this mating pair of Sweat Bees was tricky cause they weren't sitting still.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (over 2x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC, second curtain sync). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI, Denoise AI, and Clarity in that order.
Mating Sweat Bees by John Kimbler, on Flickr
Sweat Bees in Sourgrass Flowers
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- MarkSturtevant
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Thanks!MarkSturtevant wrote:Excellent!
I've taken a couple more. Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (3x) + a diffused MT-26EX-RT with a Kaiser adjustable flash shoe on the "A" head (the key), E-TTL metering, -1/3 FEC, second curtain sync). These are single, uncropped, frames taken hand held. In post I used Topaz Sharpen AI, Denoise AI, and Clarity in that order.
It's common for the bees to turn away from me when they come out of the Sourgrass flower. But I''m holding on to the flower's stem, so I can gently rotate the bee toward the camera without spooking the critter or damaging the flower:
Sweat Bee in a Sourgrass Flower III by John Kimbler, on Flickr
Sweat Bee in a Sourgrass Flower IV by John Kimbler, on Flickr