Pollen Gatherer

[Hazel Grant]

Found this busy one in the Royal Gardens in Edinburgh, Scotland. An overcast day. 1/320, f48, iso400

[Randy Stout]

Hazel:
I like the colors and composition, with the sense of diagonal across the frame.

The bee just isn't quite sharp enough. It looks like the plane of focus was just a bit post. to the bee. Also concern about possible motion at this shutter speed.

What gear were you using? Tripod vs hand held?

Cheers

Randy

[Hazel Grant]

Hand held. Nikon D40x. Thanks for taking the time to critique. I'll keep working.

[Randy Stout]

Hazel:

What lens did you use?

Thanks

Randy

[Hazel Grant]

Tamron 70-300. Focal length 185mm

[Ron Conlon]

The colors and composition are excellent. f48 is very stopped down, if that is accurate, I prefer not to go beyond about f16. Would prefer that the head and eyes were sharper.

[Hazel Grant]

oops. that's f4.8

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Hazel. Good comments above. I agree about the colors and comp which are both very nice. Very little in the image is what I would call critically sharp - likely a result of hand-holding and an f/4.8 aperture. Given the overcast light, your options were a bit limited. Increasing ISO would help give you a higher f/stop (but with increased digital noise) or you could use flash as main light (which presents its own challenges). Just a couple things to keep in mind the next time out. Keep practicing! :S3:

[Hazel Grant]

Thanks. I will.

[Allen Sparks]

Hi Hazel,
Nicely composed image. I like the bee off center facing the frame and working on that flower. Good comments above on how to improve sharpness.
Allen

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hazel keep trying even when the techs are good the subjects can be very testing, looking forward to more of your images.