buterflygirl50 Loc: From Tacoma Wa live in Bremerton Wa

Most my bee shoots are like this would love them to be clear

raferrelljr Loc: CHARLOTTE, NC

Get a tripod,faster shutter speed or slower bees?

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

If you could check "Store Original" when you post, it would allow us to see a much bigger, more detailed picture. From what I see it could be a depth of field problem, too slow shutter speed, camera shake or just out of focus. Hard to tell from what you posted.

jim quist Loc: Missouri

try 1/2000 shutter

Wanda Krack Loc: Tennessee, USA

This picture looks as if the bee is out of focus. Usually in auto mode, the camera will focus on the closest object. Use spot focus, fast shutter speed (1/500th to 1/2,000th of a second), even if you have to increase the ISO.

f8lee Loc: New Mexico

There are probably a couple of issues with your image, butterflygirl (hard to tell with such a small sample):

1 - shutter speed was too slow to "freeze" the fast-moving wings, and
2 - the depth of field achieved by that lens/aperture combination was insufficient (in close-up work, DOF drops to razor thin dimensions)

The attached were taken with a dedicated macro lens and a ring flash; the former to enable me to get close enough to essentially fill the frame with the subject and the latter (f 32) to get enough DOF to get everything in detail. Since that small an aperture requires far more than ambient light (without having to use a very long exposure time), the flash provides the illumination. And since the flash fires at something between 1/10,000th and 1/30,000th of a second the shutter speed per se is no longer important - just the sync speed of 1/60th second is fine.

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Meives Loc: FORT LAUDERDALE

Any time you ask for advise like this, click on "store original". This allows us to view camera settings. Often people set ISO at 100 and you could be on ISO 1600. Also you may need more light, flash or reflectors would help.

bigwolf40 Loc: Effort, Pa.

A tripod is out. The bees move around to much. You should use BBF and a fast shutter speed of about 1000sec at least plus your camera should be set in Al-Servo mode....Rich

chapjohn Loc: Tigard, Oregon

Continuous Focus is a good option for motion. DOF may also be a factor.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

It would really help if you could post the image and check the box that says (store original) The reason for this is that we can then download the image and pull the EXIF or metadata from the image that will tell us your camera settings. If we know your shutter speed, and what mode your camera is using, we can give better advice.

napabob Loc: Napa CA

you need an off camera flash to freeze the motion, there are many variants to consider, here is a good place to start seeing what others are are using to solve this conundrum(http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-32754-1.html). your pic shows the bee wasn't in focus but the flower was, best bet to get only the bee in focus is to use a single focus point and LOTS of shots, most other focus settings cause the camera to focus on surrounding objects.

using a tripod to get this kind of shot will lead to frustration..........

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

Manual focus, higher ISO, faster shutter speed, smaller aperture. Perhaps electronic flash or ring light. I agree with Napabob, tripods=frustration

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Oddly enough, slower bees can be obtained by freezing them! Ha! Ha! Not something I would do, but a photographer I know who used to shoot for National Geographic said they froze insects, then let them thaw out a bit, then took the shot. Also, rain will slow a bee down. Probably better to just get better at shooting them!

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

And focus on the bee, not the flower!

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Hi,

Photographing something as small as a bee takes patience and a developed skill, sometimes just in learning to follow the bee around. Hand held is probably the way that will work best as you need to hang around, site the bee, get your settings ready, and then shoot when you find an appropriate composition. You'll miss a lot! Set your focus point where you believe you'll be putting the bee, shooting in manual and back-button auto focus can assist with this. Shoot as fast as you can given the conditions: in manual you can push the shutter speed somewhat. I shot the two pics below using a macro lens, a 105mm, which is a great lens for shooting small objects. I also used a wide open aperture to blur the background and get a faster shutter speed. You might be able to do this in aperture priority if you are not comfortable with manual. The first shot was 1/4000, f5, -1, 105mm; the second shot was 1/100, f16, 105mm. The settings are always going to vary given the conditions and your determination of what you want from the photo. On the first photo, my shot was on the bee. On the second photo I was using a tripod actually shooting the flower when the bee landed so I switched the focal point to the bee and he pretty much just stopped there for me. Know your settings and how to use them, keep practicing, and you'll get it.