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Collection Day
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Collection Day

by Gary Minish

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted June 26, 2017104 views4 comments
I was shooting black bear photos with the 70-200 when I came across this field of bright yellow wild flowers.  There were a couple of honey bees flitting from flower to flower so I thought I'd see what I could do for a macro with the longer lens.  The lens can focus within a little less than 3 ft. so I figured it was worth a try.  With all the flowers and grasses I knew focusing would be difficult so I went to manual focus with the peak focus indicator turned on.  That way all I had to do was make the bee's head turn red (the indicating color) and take the shot.  It worked out quite well and I got a number of decent shots.  This is one of the better ones of the group. This is only a slight crop for composition but I could easily crop it further (which I'm sure will be suggested). I kind of liked the wider version as I'm a fan of shots that put the subject in the context of it's environment.

Sony a6500, FE 70-200 f2.8 GM @ 200mm, ISO-100, f/6.3, 1/1000, hand held.

Comments

4 comments
Comment posted by Shirley Freeman on June 26, 2017 at 9:12 PM
Finally got a chance to look at your shot, Gary.  Very nice!  I love the details in that bee.  Really nice.  That one little tip of the top of a flower at the bottom (right of center), I am thinking it would be better if that were cropped out.  But I do like sometimes having the wider version to show their environment. 
Registered on May 27, 2017, 77 Posts, 844 Comments
Comment posted by Mark Seaver on June 27, 2017 at 10:21 AM
A fine look at this bumble been and it's environment, Gary.  Yes, close focusing long lenses are an important "macro" tool.  The details in the bee and it's perch look good, with the rest of the frame adding well to the story.  I think of macro as having two "modes", the first is what I call a "portrait", where filling the frame with the subject and showing off it's details are the main idea.  The second is the "environmental" view showing the subject in it's environment.  I think the latter is more challenging because while you still need to keep the majority of the interest on the main subject, you do need to balance that attention with the rest of the image.  This does a good job of balancing with the bright yellow, but oof flowers in the background surrounding the well focused bee and buttercup.
Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments
Comment posted by Wayne Bartz on June 27, 2017 at 3:37 PM
Great use of DOF.
Registered on May 12, 2007, 56 Posts, 92 Comments
Comment posted by Ed Williams on June 27, 2017 at 5:08 PM
Looks like Spring time in Alaska Gary. This has really nice colors and details in the bee/flower with a nice impression of the surroundings.
Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments