A cold miner bee part 2

[LordV]

Some higher mag shots of the miner bee and it's reward for being so cooperative - I let it warm up on my hand for several minutes and it finally was able to fly off.

Brian V.

[dougsmit]

For me, the highlight was the way the water drops on #1 magnified the compound eye sections enough to be seen. Nice shot.

[Athena]

yes, the water droplets in #1 are great. And I always enjoy seeing the segments in antennae and the mouth parts of these type creatures. Lovely captures Brian, all of them.

[Gautam]

Another superb set Brian. The first one is my fav.

gautam

[kenwae]

you can make science class fun! I find their....hair? Is that what it is...interesting. It kind of reminds me a bit of a shaggy dog. I really hadn't noticed it before; of course, how could I? When do I see a bee this close?? Thanks.-Ken

[koisanke]

Brian,

You have done it again man, great work. Oh yeah, congratulations again on the cover shot.

Tom

[transcape5]

Way cool shots, Brian!

I'm finally seeing some insect activities today as the temperature is breaching 70 degree F for the first time this year. It will be hot and humid here in no time...

[LordV]

Thanks for the comments everyone - much appreciated
Kenwae - some of the hairs are actually hairy themselves on bees (they have little branches). You can just about see it in #3 on the hairs hanging down between the two legs they look kinda zigzggy.
Transcape - often a good time for bug hunting in the morning if the temps are fairly low - the bugs can get very sluggish like this one.

[minhoon83]

Great shots !!!

[LordV]

Originally Posted by minhoon83

Great shots !!!

Thanks !
Brian V.

[JohnnyUK]

Great shots, see you steered clear of the rear end where the sting is, would love to see that end in close up as well.

[TechAnimal]

Darn you Brian! Just when I think I've started getting some half decent shots you throw up a post like this. The first two are my favs for the detail thats present. Feast for the eyes. I tried shooting some bees at Kew gardens in London recently and quickly found that its much harder than it looks. Hats off to you mate

[LordV]

Thanks for looking and commenting JohnnyUK and TA

Johnny- the stinging end is just not that interesting - you just normally see a very furry butt - you can't see the sting.

TA - Actively foraging bees are amazingly difficult to capture, I took advantage of a bee that had stayed out all night and got very cold so it was slow moving.

Brian V.

[JohnnyUK]

LordV

I would love to know what lens you are using to capture these shots?

I do a bit of macro, mainly using L glass lenses with extension tubes, but it does not get this good.

John

[Lyle A]

Awesome!

[LordV]

Originally Posted by JohnnyUK

LordV

I would love to know what lens you are using to capture these shots?

I do a bit of macro, mainly using L glass lenses with extension tubes, but it does not get this good.

John

I use a sigma 105mm Ex often with extension tubes and an MPE-65. I was using the latter lens for these higher mag shots. I shoot fairly open apertures to avoid diffraction softening and then if I need more DOF I often use focus stacking. Again all these pics were focus stacked.
Brian V.

[LordV]

Originally Posted by Lyle A

Awesome!

Thanks Lyle
Brian V.