Bee on flowers

[MR.FEESH]

Okay so neither of these is really anything special, just fairly typical insect/flower combo.  My concern with this first one is that the composition comes off as sort of awkward.  Can anyone confirm or dispel this?  I feel like something is off.



I also have this second one, again, nothing special-- maybe a little better though?



Thanks for your comments!
Elby

[wolfnowl]

Well they're good macros of a bumblebee on blue vervain.  Nothing spectacular, but well done.

Mike.

[Derry]

nice general photo but I have always found when capturing bees you need to be close so you can see them (if they are your main point of the photo) and the addition of color or lack of color around them helps bring the eye to focus on the bee,,

we have a few species of bees in our neighborhood that I photograph and wanted to offer a couple examples of photos with color and without,,

Derry

[EdRosch]

Bees are fun to shoot and a bit of a challenge.  Here's one of mine. [attachment=15689:Bee__18_2.jpg]

On the original two pics posted.  On the first one the background is still fairly sharp which confuses the image.  In addition the large amount of background adds nothing to the composition and the bee merges with the flower.  The second has the background more blurred, is cropped tighter, and the bee contrasts better against the lighter green and thus shows well which is why I think it's a better picture.

[MR.FEESH]

Well they're good macros of a bumblebee on blue vervain.  Nothing spectacular, but well done.

Mike.

Yeah like I said nothing special.  This is about the closest I can get though, which is slightly annoying.  I have a high end p&s with a fixed lens, the closest focal point isn't that close, so I have to utilize the high megapixel count and crop about 20%.  Kinda works out.

nice general photo but I have always found when capturing bees you need to be close so you can see them (if they are your main point of the photo) and the addition of color or lack of color around them helps bring the eye to focus on the bee,,

we have a few species of bees in our neighborhood that I photograph and wanted to offer a couple examples of photos with color and without,,

Derry

Yeah like the above post, I can't get that close with the fixed lens...one day I'll have enough money for an slr and thus some more appropriate lenses for this type of shot.  But I'll be a poor college kid for the next 4 years, so I have to make do with shots like these until I have some sort of income.

Bees are fun to shoot and a bit of a challenge.  Here's one of mine. [attachment=15689:Bee__18_2.jpg]

On the original two pics posted.  On the first one the background is still fairly sharp which confuses the image.  In addition the large amount of background adds nothing to the composition and the bee merges with the flower.  The second has the background more blurred, is cropped tighter, and the bee contrasts better against the lighter green and thus shows well which is why I think it's a better picture.

Ohh that is a good point, the background in the first is relatively sharp...nice work!  I agree with your thoughts on the second picture as well, it definitely comes together much better.

Thanks guys!
Elby

[Michael West]

Yeah like I said nothing special.  This is about the closest I can get though, which is slightly annoying.  I have a high end p&s with a fixed lens, the closest focal point isn't that close, so I have to utilize the high megapixel count and crop about 20%.  Kinda works out.




Yeah like the above post, I can't get that close with the fixed lens...one day I'll have enough money for an slr and thus some more appropriate lenses for this type of shot.  But I'll be a poor college kid for the next 4 years, so I have to make do with shots like these until I have some sort of income.




Ohh that is a good point, the background in the first is relatively sharp...nice work!  I agree with your thoughts on the second picture as well, it definitely comes together much better.

Thanks guys!
Elby

Keep shooting em. Follow your "eye"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21247579@N04/...57607042018678/

[wolfnowl]

Some nice work there!  BTW, if you ever want to identify them, I recommend http://bugguide.net  There's a place there to upload images for identification.

Mike.

[Derry]

since you have a good eye for your subject and want to try some close up photos why not consider a set of diopter lens to place on the front of your present lens,, they will not offer the same resolution as a macro lens (but close) and it keeps your cost reasonable while allowing you to further your photography skills,, a couple extension tubes will also work fine and should be considered as an alternative to the diopter lens,, the extension tubes can be purchased without any data (focus and aperture) transfer and will need to be used in a full manual mode so be sure your lens will support this,,

Derry