tayco wrote:
It is a facinating thing to watch all the bees come back and forth carrying the pollen, and i see all the sharp pictures that everyone posts here. I am having trouble capturing the "flight of the honey bee" . Can you tell exactly where my focus is set in theese? Any help is appreciated in advance, always learning!
P.S. Pardon the weeds it is almost the only thing growing !
Hi Tayco,
You are specifically asking about taking pictures of bees in flight so here is my two penarth...
First off..
1. Get away from that bee hive..
Why on earth are you so close to it? It certainly will never add to the back drop, even if it is out of focus
2. Get closer, get MUCH closer, then get closer again :)
The closer you get the better but get away from the hive.
Do not worry about flash upsetting individual bees and note my wording.. I have used flash to take close up pictures of a wasp nest and not got stung, but have NEVER been near a bee hive so have NO knowledge of how a lot of bees would react
Shutter speeds
You pays your money and take your choices, 1/4000th or this hand held shot is at 1/60th of a second.
I am someone that is more of a snapper than a photographer and this image was shot with me laying on the ground supporting myself and the camera with one arm whilst working the controls with the other.. I can only see a tripod as being a hindrance for this type of shot but if you are happy using a tripod, then 'what ever works for you'
I love capturing bees in flight but to me I like the backdrop of a flower
Apologies for posting an image on your thread but you are being given lots of advice and I thought I would use a picture to support my words.. Capturing a bee on a flower is one thing, getting a shot of them in flight, in focus, is for me a whole new ball game and I wish you all the luck but you need to get closer and I don't know about using a long lens, I certainly do not see the harm in using one, but this image is taken with a 105mm lens.
Hand held
1/60th second