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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 64: Round (host: Sharon Lips) >> Eligible > Jealous Carpenter *
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01-APR-2006 Victor Engel

Jealous Carpenter *

near the mandaring tree

This carpenter bee lives in a dead log in my backyard.
During the day, since my mandarin started blooming it's
been claiming the tree for its own. It hovers about a
foot away, changing positions every second or two (just
to annoy me, I'm sure). If another carpenter bee appears,
it gets attacked by this one until it leaves. If a bird
flies overhead, the bee chases it briefly until it
realizes it's a bird. Then it returns.

If I get too close, it buzzes me, heading straight toward
me, veering away at the last moment. About every 30
minutes, it pauses to get some nectar from the flowers.

When the sun came out and I was shooting against the sun
the bee came over to the lens, staring into it for a few
seconds.

Anyway, I hope this picture is deemed topical. I love
the eyes on this bee. The eyes are meant to be the focus
for this challenge.

Canon EOS 10D ,Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM
1/200s f/13.0 at 300.0mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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jimhwy04-Apr-2006 23:28
That's an amazing shot. I love macro and I've never even tried getting a shot of a bee in flight. I love the composition and the coloring. What a beauty!
Canon DSLR Challenge04-Apr-2006 03:01
I forgot to mention that the color of the 300mm lens comes pretty close to matching the color of the bee's eyes. -- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge04-Apr-2006 03:00
I was originally going to say that I didn't think the bee would let me get close enough with a shorter lens. But then I went out again to watch the bee some more, and I put my face near enough to the flowers so that the smell was pretty overwhelming. The bee looked at me straight in the face, then buzzed over my head, zigging and zagging, trying to intimidate me with the buzzing noise. I didn't budge, though. Considering that, I probably could have taken the shot with a macro lens. But that requires having a macro lens. I don't have one.

I have an 85mm f/1.8, a 50mm f/1.8, and a 28-135mm IS, none of which is a dedicated macro. The 300 focuses very close (1.5m) for such a long lens, so it is effectively a macro lens. Barring that, I'd have to use a supplementary lens. All I have there is a Raynox micro explorer set. Perhaps I'll try it out with the lowest power (6X) lens I have, but I'm skeptical that I'll get better results than with the 300, simply because the 300 allows me to cover a much greater area (the bee can move around more and I still get it in my sights). The one big advantage to shooting closer would be lighting. This shot was taken with the flash at full power in the telephoto position. At f/13, it was still bright enough from the sunlight that much of the exposure is from natural light. That worked out OK in this picture, but caused a lot of motion blur in most of my pictures. Putting the light source closer would have allowed me to stop down further, thus blocking out more of the ambient light, freezing the motion more. -- Victor
Canon DSLR Challenge03-Apr-2006 22:35
I concur with the others, Great capture! you caught the fella in flight, sharp and in perfect focus. Taking such pics, have you found it easier working with the 300mm than a dedicated macro lens?
-Techo
elips03-Apr-2006 05:49
Great capture, Victor! I am really impressed that you were able to get this shot! And, you have given it such a nice composition. I have noticed that many macro shooters are so involved in just getting the shot that they ignore all the "rules" of photography. You have made really good use of the rule of thirds here and it works well. Good job! ~Sharon
Photogenix03-Apr-2006 04:39
Excellent macro... love the eyes. - RK
CameraShy0902-Apr-2006 14:58
Congratulations on getting this shot! Beautifully done on a very difficult subject.