Picture This | Gardening Gone Wild Photo Contest Entry
Tags: Av 9.0, Bees, Borage, Canon 60mm, Insects, Macro, Photos
I’ve been meaning to put up a photo blog for a while, but just never find the time. Seeing the latest photo contest over at Gardening Gone Wild finally galvanized me into action. Per the rules of the contest, I ventured out into the garden this afternoon and took a new photo specifically for the occasion, from knee level.
It was a sunny but hazy afternoon with strong blustery wind, but this brave little bee was out pollinating anyway. I took the shot hand-held while sitting on the edge of a garden bed in the garden of local landscape designer Genevieve Schmidt of NorthCoastGardening.com.
The key to taking photos of busy insects like this in windy conditions is to keep an eye on the composition and follow the shot, but bypass thought on the focus. Let your eye and your shutter finger work out when to push the button; by the time you think about it, the shot will be long gone.
The borage is a nice subject; the flowers open up a pale pink (right) and quickly darken to blue (left). My goal was to get the bee and both flowers in focus, along with some of the great texture of the borage buds, but to keep anything behind the subjects blurred out to create the feeling of depth and keep the subjects bold.
- Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
- Lens: EF-S60mm f/2.8 Macro USM
- Shutter Speed: 1/640
- ISO: 400
- Aperture: 9.0
Post Processing: Some tiny adjustments to sharpness and levels, cropped down to a little over half original size.
15 Comments, Comment or Ping
Pam/Digging
What a pretty image. Those fresh, Easter-egg colors look like sweet springtime to my summer-weary eyes. Ahh.
Aug 9th, 2009
admin
Thank You! Borage is one of my favorite flowers. They are edible too! They taste like cucumbers and float on water. It is also a huge compost catalyst, if you are into such things.
Aug 9th, 2009
ESP
Great colors!, interesting how the unopened flowers visually parallel the bees abdomen.
Aug 10th, 2009
Town Mouse
Amazing! I love the colors and the lighting.
Aug 10th, 2009
admin
I must admit, I hadn’t even noticed that, ESP. I see from your entry and your site that you are no strange to such unique perspectives. I enjoyed it greatly.
Aug 10th, 2009
grizz
Hey T
Thats a great Pic Can’t wait to see more.
Aug 10th, 2009
admin
Thanks GRIZZDOG, I’ve still got some kinks and details to work out in the site, but I’ll try to put up a few more in the near future. It wouldn’t do to have a photo blog with only one picture in it.
Aug 10th, 2009
Rothschild Orchid
So beautiful!
Aug 11th, 2009
RobinL
What a great shot! Good luck, I hope you win. And I just may have to grow some borage to get that interesting color combination.
Aug 15th, 2009
Teresa~Gardening with Soule
Great Photograph! Good luck.
Aug 16th, 2009
Ellen Zachos
This shot knocks me out…almost kept me from entering the contest myself!
Aug 17th, 2009
admin
High praise indeed, Ellen. I’m glad you entered though, I’m keeping my eye on you as one of the top contenders.
Aug 17th, 2009
Linda Steider
I love this shot. Color, compostition, depth. Just beautiful!
Aug 19th, 2009
Tapan Kumar Pattanayak
Excelent !!!
Apr 6th, 2010
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