Macro - Discussion & Photos

[stevo]

It's common for the males to all roost together. They are solitary as they don't work together to maintain a hive or anything, though yeah you will probably have a few around. If you're keen, wonder around just before dark and you may find some hovering around trying to get settled on a thin twig.

 

[stevo]

I couldn't find a bee on a flower so the fly had to do...

 

[Mark]

Wow! I love these shots (I say that all the time lol)...

 

[OskarDoLittle]

Makes the humble fly look quite spectacular!

 

[Letsgokate]

Awesome Stevo

 

[ClissAT]

WoW! Prerty fly & flower!

 

[stevo]

I got this bee the other day, I'm not sure if it's having a clean up and throwing some pollen out for some reason, it could be honey soaked pollen that they can't use?, or if it may be transporting the pollen to another new colony....

I need to work on a better flash set up for macro...

 

[ClissAT]

Could it be pollen that is dying or has fungus on it?

 

[stevo]

yer not sure. It'd be good to have more time to sit there and watch them to see what they get up to during the days. This work thing is really inconvenient sometimes!

 

[Mark]

Cool seeing the pollen close up with the bee - another awesome image

 

[stevo]

My first Blue Banded Bee for the season... on a Arabica Coffee plant...

 

[Mark]

That's a seriously good macro shot You can see the pollen specks on its eyes!

 

[stevo]

a couple from today.

A Fire-Tailed Resin Bee. I think that'd be Nectar dripping off it's face (not resin), as they provision the nest with Nectar and Polen...

The hair on it's Scopia hold the Polen...

and a Masked Bee hiding in a hole...

 

[OskarDoLittle]

Beautiful shots as always! Dunno why on earth you're outside on a day like today though! We mow d this am and had to come in by 1:30 due to the heat. 37.6 deg in the shade at the moment

 

[stevo]

cheers Oskar, it's only 35 here in the shade. (Redcliffe/Brisbane). I've been wondering around trying to keep busy, even though it's hot I feel like I should be productive in some way, the work shed is a little hot to make things, so I thought i'd try grab a few photos and geek on the net for the day. Every time I walk around looking at the yard I find new things to grab photos of. I'm hoping there'll be plenty of bug activity later today.

 

[Letsgokate]

These are awesome shots Stevo

 

[Mark]

Incredible close up photography... wow

 

[stevo]

another Blue Banded Bee. They're really fast so it's quite difficult to catch them. I've found I can increase the shutter speed a fair bit to improve the chances. This one is 1/640 with an external flash.

 

[ClissAT]

Stevo, excellent photo. Was it taken at night time as the background suggests?

How on earth so you see them at night time if they are that fast?

 

[stevo]

Thanks Clissa, It was late afternoon. The flash just highlights the subject so it makes the background look darker than what it is. Though you can still photograph critters at night if you use a torch on the subject to get focus.