Aloe addict 2

[Vida van der Walt]

I spent many, many hours over a period of 3 weeks hanging around this aloe plant to get an in flight shot of this bee. I tried using a tripod but the bee avoided the flower the camera was focused on. I eventually had to hand hold and wait next to the plant. These cute bees are very fast fliers but hovered a split second when approaching a specific flower. The working distance with the lens at this magnification was 10cm and at f16 the dof was 2.24mm.
Canon 5D Mark11
MP E 65mm; MT 24EX
apert f16; ss1/200; iso 200
slight crop, sharpen, nr, levels, curves and softening of flash generated highlights.

[Nick Palmieri]

Very nice, I like the bee a lot and the BG is very good. I think the flower on the bottom left is a bit distracting.

[Vida van der Walt]

Thank you Nick. Much appreciated. I have mixed feelings on the 2nd flower. I feel like it would look better without it but then I battle with the idea of removing something from the image. From an artistic point of view it should be removed but from a naturalist or purist point of view it should stay. I don't know??:confused: I think that if I do decide to remove the flower I will have to crop some space from the bottom to balance the shot. I would love to hear some more opinions on this to help me make up my mind.:)

[Dave Mills]

Hi Vida, I agree with Nick on this. I would take out the backround flower because IMO it is a bit distracting and takes away from the viewer's eye remaining on your center of interest. You did a great job on this and your efforts are well rewarded...

[Dave Leroy]

It is a lovely image and your hard work and persistence certainly paid off well. I was so fascianted by the bee I had not noticed the second flower until I read Nick's comment. I actually don't mind it. If you do decide to remove it then I also feel some cropping from bottom would be needed. Very well done. Dave

[Morkel Erasmus]

one of your best in-flights yet Vida! love the colours and exposure here.

[Julie Kenward]

Beautiful inflight image, Vida! For me, the answer would be to have backed off just a bit so the entire front flower was in the image - I like seeing the interaction between the bee and the entire flower for some reason. As the image is now, I would clone that second flower out as it adds nothing to the beauty or story of the image and then I'd crop it to a pano size and let that bee and flower speak for itself.

[Vida van der Walt]

Thank you Dave M, Dave L, Morkel and Julie. Your comments are much appreciated. I think I am now convinced and will remove the flower and crop some more from the bottom. Julie, I can't fit the whole flower and bee in the frame. My lens starts at 1x magnification and can go up to 5x. The lens starts where typical macro lenses stop and that makes an in flight shot all the more challenging. This shot was taken at 1x.:)

[Stu Bowie]

Hey Vida, I was wondering when you would show your wonderful images on this site. Excellent detail on the bee, and I like the mottled colours in the BG. I agree removing the OOF flower will work. Cheers, Stu.

[Steve Maxson]

Another excellent image, Vida, and I can fully appreciate how it could take 3 weeks of trying to get an image of this quality. I could go either way regarding the second flower - I think both alternatives can work. Isn't it nice to have options with digital? :)

[Vida van der Walt]

Hi Stu and Steve. Thx for the great feedback. I have now removed the flower and cropped some more. I think it looks better but please excuse the cloning work as I'm still struggling to master it.:)

[Mike Moats]

Incredible details and do like the repost without the second flower. Very well done.

[Harshad Barve]

Stunningly beautiful image , lovely details and killer BG , Repost rocks
TFS

[Vida van der Walt]

Hi Mike and Harshad. Thank you for your comments. Much appreciated.:)

[Jerry van Dijk]

Hi Vida, extremely cool shot! The pose of the bee is great and wonderful details. I actually prefer the original image compositionwise, because the bee is not on the center line horizontally. I also like the repetition of the flower in the BG. You might try a faster shutter speed to get more of the wings. I'm guessing your camera can easily handle the higher ISO levels needed. Nice work!
Jerry.

[Vida van der Walt]

Thank you Jerry. Much appreciated.:)

[Gordon Craig]

Your patience proved well worth it. I really like the re-post

[Vida van der Walt]

Thank you Gordon. I'm glad you like it.:)

[Nagesh Mula]

Vida, your patience finally paid off. I liked this picture very much and Congrats on getting a sharp eye on a flying bee.

[Vida van der Walt]

Thank you very much Nagesh.:)