I traded in my Canon macro for the IS/L model after using a friend's lens. Here are the first shots....Hover fly on aster in the back yard (only thing still blooming).
I like the angle of flower on this one, but the eyes are not as clear as on the one above.
Posted by Joseph Campisi on October 23, 2011 at 12:53 AM
I think that's actually a small species of bee Marylynne. Flies don't have long antennae or fold there wings like that. Very cool image by the way! Love that metallic green!
This looks to be a species of "sweat bee", specifically Agapostemon splendens. They belong the the family of bees known as Halictidae.
"Halictidae are one of the seven bee families in the order Hymenoptera. Also known as sweat bees, halictids are a very diverse group of metallic and non-metallic bees. They typically are more abundant than most bees with the exception of Apis (honey bee) species. Halictids display the most diverse gradation in social behavior (Michener 2007) as species can be solitary, communal, semi-social or eusocial. Some species exhibit solitary or eusocial behavior depending on time of year, geographic location, altitude and often unknown factors (Michener 2007). The genus Lasioglossum (=Dialictus) in Halictidae is one of the largest genera of bees worldwide, with an incredibly diverse array of behaviors."
When most kids were playing sports, I was looking for bugs, lol. Remember the movie "Lucas"? I was kinda like that, except a lot less nerdy...
Posted by Bruce King on October 24, 2011 at 4:31 PM
Wow...both are beautiful photographs but I prefer the second...none of the bee is blocked by petal. Are these cropped? Not that it matters. Excellent.
Thanks, Bruce. I wanted to reach out and press that petal down, but I feared the bee would fly away ;-). Here is the full image before crop to give you a sense of how significant the crop was.
Posted by Scott Smorra on October 24, 2011 at 10:13 PM
Beautiful image Marylynne. The purples and greens really look amazing. Well done.
Whoa! Excellent work, Marylynne! The metallic color on the bee is so striking. Having recently upgraded my macro lens as well, I can understand your excitement.
Posted by John Williams on October 25, 2011 at 12:35 AM
Totally cool! Looks like that lens will pay off well. I too like them both, but that second shot is amazing. The details and color really sing, and the comp is perfect.
Posted by Craig Strand on October 25, 2011 at 8:56 AM
These are really wonderful shots Marylynne, I think I prefer the first image although both are really well taken. Sounds like you traded up to the same lens I'm using and I really like it. Wishing you many more fantastic shots and days of great shooting with the new lens.
Thanks, Rick. I tend to be kind of dark--it's an Oregon thing,I think. We see so little light here ;-). Nonetheless, I did increase the exposure in LR yesterday. It always takes me a few days to see that something needs to be lifted a bit. Thanks for reaffirming my instinct on that.
Discussion
13 replies"Halictidae are one of the seven bee families in the order Hymenoptera. Also known as sweat bees, halictids are a very diverse group of metallic and non-metallic bees. They typically are more abundant than most bees with the exception of Apis (honey bee) species. Halictids display the most diverse gradation in social behavior (Michener 2007) as species can be solitary, communal, semi-social or eusocial. Some species exhibit solitary or eusocial behavior depending on time of year, geographic location, altitude and often unknown factors (Michener 2007). The genus Lasioglossum (=Dialictus) in Halictidae is one of the largest genera of bees worldwide, with an incredibly diverse array of behaviors."
When most kids were playing sports, I was looking for bugs, lol. Remember the movie "Lucas"? I was kinda like that, except a lot less nerdy...
Love the images! My only nit is they are a bit dark. Otherwise well done!!
BTW said lens does well on portraits too!