Posting these here because it's just not possible to get images like these without disturbing the critters at least a little. Sometimes I have to bait them to give 'em a reason to let me get close. All hand held, all single frames, and as a general rule I don't crop in post. The view finder can hone my composition skills, but the cropping tool can't
Technique: I found this European Wool carder bee snoozing on a Lavender stalk before sunset and woke up early the next morning to photograph it before it warmed up and got active. I placed an artificial flower in the background to keep the background from being black. This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 200 with highlight tone priority) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (around 2x) + a diffused MT-24EX (both flash heads on the Canon flash mount, E-TTL metering with -1 2/3 FEC).
European Carder Bee IV by John Kimbler, on Flickr
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 200 with highlight tone priority) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (5x) + a diffused MT-24EX (both flash heads on the Canon flash mount, E-TTL metering with -1 2/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held.
European Carder III by John Kimbler, on Flickr
Male of Megachile (Chalicodoma) parietina.
Technique: It was a cool day (18C) with partly cloudy skies and intermittent light showers -perfect weather to go looking for solitary bees since they'll have a tough time keeping their metabolism up. I got lucky and found this Mason bee semi-dormant in my Lavender.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (3x) + a diffused MT-24EX (both flash heads on the Canon flash mount, E-TTL metering). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held. I used an artificial flower to keep the background from being black.
Mason Bee VII by John Kimbler, on Flickr
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (around 2x) + a diffused MT-24EX (both flash heads on the Canon flash mount, E-TTL metering).
Mason Bee IV by John Kimbler, on Flickr
Technique: I found this Chafer beetle feeding early in the day and it didn't seem to mind me getting close. I held on to the flower's stem with my left index finger and thumb, and then rested the lens on that same hand to keep the scene steady.
Tech Specs: Canon 80D (F11, 1/250, ISO 200 with highlight tone priority) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (over 2x) + a diffused MT-24EX (both flash heads on the Canon flash mount, E-TTL metering with -1 2/3 FEC). This is a single, uncropped, frame taken hand held.
Feeding Chafer Beetle by John Kimbler, on Flickr
I plan on doing some limited stacking this year, probably no more than five or six frames. Got a few compositions stuck in my head that I just can't get into the camera no matter how much I stop the lens down. Going to see if I can use a Helicon FB extension tube to take stacks of scenes like this one:
Feeding Honeybee VIII by John Kimbler, on Flickr
Bees and a Beetle
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