Insects...

[Greg Beetham]

Thanks Yildiz, Birma
That yellow bumblebee I tnink is probably a regular black and yellow (ours are essentially the same as Dusty's, but have a bright yellow tuft where the silver grey is), what I think is, it's covered in pollen....for reasons unknown.
I was beginning too think it may have copped a heavy knock in the first half actually. At times one of the yellow ones would start head butting the same leaf or flower over and over with a louder bazzzt each time, it was very strange to watch, and I have absolutely no idea what that was all about.
Greg

[Greg Beetham]

Just a couple of insect happy snaps, well not so happy for one little sapsucker perhaps. Had a bit of trouble cornering the butterfly hence the ordinary old flipup flash usage.
Greg

A100 KM100Macro + kenko 20mm (The ants are approx 2-2.5mm)

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A100 KM24-105

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[Birma]

Hi Greg - the first one almost looks like the kindly ants are helping out and giving the big green bug a ride - I guess the truth is more sinistre . The butterfly looks like a big one .

[Birma]

I recieved a new copy of the Tamron 60 mm f/2 this week and this time it contains no stray particles - thankfully I'll be keeping this one. Now I can get down to the business of learning to use my first macro lens . Here are some shots from this afternoon, all with the new lens on the A700.

I spent a pleasant hour chasing bees around our Buddleia bush. I think these are both Buff Tailed Bumble Bees, it could even be the same bee - they are tricky to keep track of.




Here is a Green Shield Bug on a rose.


I got the distinct feeling that all of these guys (or girls!) were checking me out, just as much as I was checking them out. I like the bokeh, the lens is nice and light (esp. after the beercan!), and focuses smoothly.

[Dr. Harout]

Birma, take good care of that lens. It gives excellent results. Keep posting buddy.

[Greg Beetham]

Thanks Birma, the 60 Tamron looks good, and like you say nice bokeh. Nice detail in those. Looks like you must have been quite close in those shots.
Greg

ps. I had a lot of trouble trying too get sharp ants in my photo, they were racing around the green bug a lot and dragging it quite fast, I even moved it back out into the sunlight a couple of times to try again.
Another with maybe slightly better ants.
A100 KM100Macro + 20mm Kenko

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[Birma]

Thanks Doc and Greg . I was able to get very close to all of the subjects - the bumble bees seemed hardly bothered by my presence at all. Not so the wasps who were nectar gathering on a neighbouring bush who were extremely skittish. I can imagine ants being tricky as they just never stop moving - the bees stopped momentarily when they found a bloom worth feeding from and that was the time to try and snap them.

[aster]

Greg;

It's always hard to get the hungry ones in focus.: )) So don't worry about the result much.

Do like we do, wait till they are nicely fed, feeling heavy and slow and then shoot!


Birma, : )

The lens is working like a charm with these bumbebee and insect shots as well. Again, lots of fine details and a pleasant out of focus dimesion both in the foreground and background.

Yildiz

[Greg Beetham]

I'm getting jealous of your bumblebees Birma, ours won't stay still at all, I did see a black/yellow land very briefly here and there but I'm talking maybe a second or two.
Ha Ha! Yildiz you are a trick, well fed ants hahahahah kafkaf...
Greg

[Birma]

I'm getting jealous of your bumblebees Birma, ours won't stay still at all, I did see a black/yellow land very briefly here and there but I'm talking maybe a second or two.

Tracking the bees was easier I guess on this plant as there are muliple blooms altogether. The bee would land on a flower (a cone shape of small blooms) and then move around the individual blooms, probing in to it, and then moving on. The bee would sometime pause during a "probe" (for maybe a second) I guess when it found nectar, and then move on. After failing many times to focus lock during one of the probe pauses I changed tactics. I switched to continuous AF and waited for a bee to land. I then tracked it as it crawled around a flower, waiting for a head-on shot, and hopefully then shooting during a probe-pause. I got maybe 1 in 7 or 8 attempts. I could have pre-focused on a spot and waited for a bee to enter that area, but I would have waited a very long time as there didn't seem to be a way to predict their path. These bigger Bumble Bees are slower than then dsmaller bees who were just too quick for me .

I'd be interested if anybody has any other bee picture capturing strategies?

[aster]

Ha Ha! Yildiz you are a trick, well fed ants hahahahah kafkaf...
Greg

Ah, ants....! They don't suffer from waistline issues, do they, being segmented, unlike plump bumblebees?

There probably is an other way to shoot fast ants.

Yildiz

[Dusty]

Shooting the Hostas the other morning before work, I came across this guy - The Green Hornet! (I didn't see Kato.)

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Dusty

[Dusty]

One of my hives over at my sister's house. In the first shot, notice the arrangement of the bees at the entrance. They are actually fanning to keep the hive cool.

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Dusty

[Greg Beetham]

How do the bees make out in the winter Dusty, do they go into a suspended state like hibernation or such.
Greg

[Birma]

Very interesting pictures Dusty - I have never seen a Green Hornet - looks like something to keep a respectful distance from! Fruit and now honey - it sounds as if there will be some interesting baking opportunities in your neck of the woods as well .