Honey bee drinking Acquilegia nectar
Flower is Acquilegia - also known variously as Columbine, or Grandmother's Bonnet.
Flower is Acquilegia - also known variously as Columbine, or Grandmother's Bonnet.
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Feb, 2016Views
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Awards
Action Award
People's Choice in Focus Photo Challenge
Superb Composition
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
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Magnificent Capture
All Star
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
The Iris Garden in Motukarara near Christchurch, New Zealand. I had just got my first macro lens a month or two prior, was very much still learning the ropes, and so was very happy to nail this shot. I believe it is still my best show even after 5 more months of practice/learning. The venue is now closed, sadly, due to the death of a proprietor - I was just glad they decided to open for one final season, and so I was making the most of it and driving out every weekend.Time
15:46:11 on October 24th 2015. Being in New Zealand, this was in the spring.Lighting
I had full spring sunlight in this shot, which is why it was shot at ISO100 and f/16 but is still properly exposed. So while I was using about as narrow an aperture as I dare on this lens (due to diffraction), being a macro lens the DoF is still very narrow and evident, and presumably what helped me win this challenge entitled 'Focus'.Equipment
Nikon D7000 with SB700 flash mounted (TTL, EV -1) and Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. Shot handheld with flash, full manual mode, shutter speed 1/320s (I could have gotten away with slower, but I was actually trying to photograph bees in flight as well, which means this was on the slow side) and aperture f/16.Inspiration
I absolutely adore bees, had been struggling with taking pleasing bee photos for some years, and finally investigated getting a macro lens a month or so earlier. I took it for a test drive, handed over the money, and have never looked back. It is the tool I have needed to express what I love about bees (and other insects) and flowers, but was not able to do so previously. So I was learning to use this new gear, making the most of the final weeks of this fabulous venue, and getting as many bee/flower shots in this cottage garden as I could.Editing
While I do, in general, this shot came out so perfectly (to my eyes), I applied only a hint of unsharp around the focal area to help exaggerate / draw the eye to it. This is simply the camera JPEG - I am not advanced enough for RAW processing as of yet. I use freely available open-source software for all my editing (not owning any Adobe products). This was processed in the GIMP.In my camera bag
My D7000, SB700 and Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro as used in this shot have been my most heavily used since I started getting into photography late 2015. As I love nature, I also got a Sigma 150-600mm f/5.6-6.3 telephoto lens, and this has greatly improved my bird photos (but boy is it heavy - will take some getting used to!). I have also recently purchased a Tokina 12-28mm f/4 for the occasional landscape. I still pack my Nikon 50mm f/1.8 and Nikon 18-200mm general purpose zoom (older lens from casual photography days) but find I very rarely use them.Feedback
Mostly I got lucky, so I will explain what I was typically doing wrong (and why this shot went right) in case this helps anyone else first starting out in macro (as I was at the time). I was using full manual mode (so the camera was not helping by adjusting aperture/shutter), and as I also used low ISO (needlessly concerned about noise) and narrow aperture (for the high DoF), often my meter was reading down in the negative, but through use of a flash I still got many okay images - but with more contrast/dark areas, rather than the nice bright/dreamy backgrounds which are so pleasing with macro shots. I was relying on my flash too much to illuminate the scene, not just to freeze the action for macro insects. This shot, I think I just had a really bright bit of sun in the scene as f/16 ISO100 does not provide much light. The image was properly exposed due to full spring sunshine. So, above all, if you want to take impressive bee/insect photos close up, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of a macro lens. If, like me, you like to photograph insects in flight, a flash is indispensable.
