You've done better so far than I ever have with bee shots. Are there any guides to shooting bees online? The only thing I could think of would be to wait patiently by flowers that you know they will visit.

Practice. They aren't easy. Lots of throw away shots, hard to nail focus dead on. Manually prefocusing helps, and waiting for the subject to fly in the focus area.

Carl

Like the results you have achieved here. I had a go doing a similar series a year ago. It's certainly not easy- I took many, many images and trashed most. You have done especially well to get the bee in flight shot so sharp- well done.

As Carl says it's a case of practice and taking lots of photos- at least digital is 'free' I'd hate to think how much it would cost on film :-(

Cheers
Andrew

I will keep practicing and yes Andrew, thank goodness for digital.

I prefer trying to catch them mid-flight vs on a flower. Makes for more of a challenge. But I will try for some flower shots once the summer bloom begins.

Hi Royston,

Thanks for allowing me to post an image on your thread. This image was taken in 2007 with a KM5D and Beercan with 21mm Jessops extension tube. I used a Minolta 3600 HSD flash set to HSS to capture it. Over an hour I took many images with the following being one of my preferred attempts.

Image hosted on my flickr site (www.flickr.com/photos/woodyjnr)

As usual any C+C welcome.

Cheers
Andrew

That is a beauty Andrew. The flash really froze the bee and makes it seems as if it is floating over the flower. It is a really nice effect.

Hi Royston I appreciate the feedback.

Interesting comments on the use of flash. Pretty much the only reason that I was using the flash was because I was struggling to freeze the bee without it. By taking advantage of Minolta and now Sony's wireless flash system I was able to use the flash off camera and at an angle to the subject to eliminate any harsh shadows.

Cheers, and thanks for the comments.
Andrew

Great photo Andrew,

Focus is dead on. HSS blows my mind. I wonder how much the flash was needed? I thought that using the flash would freeze the wings. I don't see his wings. Wonder way? I suspect that sunlight/shutter-speed dominated this photo.

Dave

Personally I have more respect for the Bee. LOL.

Shutter Speed Priority with a fast shutter speed and wireless flash will freeze the wings. Of course this will make the camera lens choose the fastest aperture.