Leaf cutter bees

[Jonathan Ashton]

Canon 7D Canon 180mm macro, Reflector, ISO 100 +0.33 0.5 sec f11
I have a small insect house in the garden and leaf the cutter bees have been busy, here you can see two just prior to maiden flight and on the left you can see one of the bamboos is still plugged by a leaf.
I needed the reflector to get some light into the bees, the highlights on the bamboo and leaf have been reduced quite a bit so I think this a is a pretty accurate representation of the scene.
I had to take dozens of images before I got the two in reasonable focus, one would come out and then go back in whilst the other would come to the edge and start shaking its head, so maybe not prefect but this was the best I could get.
All C&C welcome.

[christopher galeski]

very different Jonathan,like it,looks like they are waiting to be fired from a cannon.

[Jonathan Ashton]

very different Jonathan,like it,looks like they are waiting to be fired from a cannon.

From a cannon with a Canon you might say:bg3:

[Anita Bower]

Although technically not perfect, this is a most interesting image. It is informative. I like that it includes bees ready to come out, and bamboos still plugged by leaves. It looks like you had some difficult contrasts to work with. I like the idea of having an insect house!

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jon. Very cool that you have housing for bees in your garden. Do you need to clean out the tubes at the end of the season? Nice job of getting the two bees in your plane of focus. I wonder if this might be a situation where your could use focus stacking when two (or more) bees are on different focal planes? An interesting shot and story!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks very much everyone, Steve this is the first year they have been used so I have not previously cleaned them - but that is something I must consider for next year.