Bee's in Close-up.

I wandered into our garden for today's photo's.

My first choice had been to just take some pictures of flowers or plants. However, when I started taking pictures of our flowering hedgerow, the bumblebees started to fly into the frame. The photo shoot changed to that of a impromptu macro session.

I used my Canon EOS Rebel XTi camera with Canon EF 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5 lens to take the photographs.

The bumble bees were constantly moving, so I had to make sure that the focal point was it and not the flower it had just moved from. 

Because the bee was flitting about so quickly, I had to set the shutter speed fairly high so that the whole bee did not become a blur. Unfortunately this also froze his wings in some of the shots.

Getting an even exposure as the bees moved around the hedgerow was another challenge. I  used both shutter priority mode and aperture priority mode, as well as manual, to try and find which gave the best shot. On this occasion shutter priority gave the better combination. It ensured a fast enough shutter speed that the bee was not blurred, but also allowed the camera to select the best aperture for the available light. I took the shots early evening, before the light started to fade, but after the harsh light of midday. This helped to create a much softer light on the subject.

I tried to use the rule of thirds, (explored in an earlier post) to compose the picture to make the composition more interesting. The depth of field has been kept short, thus enabling the background to remain out of focus. This ensures that the eye is not distracted away from the bee and the flower in the picture.

The white and subtle yellow of the flowers also help to enhance the prominence of the bee in the frame.

For an impromptu macro shoot I really enjoyed it and I hope you did too. I will try and do another close-up photo shoot in the near future. 

Why not add a comment or suggestion of what you would like to see as the subject of that shoot. I will then, if possible, carry it out and then I will post the photos on here once I have done it for you to see.