"Don't be Saucy!"

[Stephen Stephen]

This is one of the first images that I created shortly after I bought my Sigma 105mm F.28 Macro

This bumble bee was feeding on my neighbour's Lilac flowers. I was just trying to capture a head image and only really noticed the tongue sticking out after I uploaded the image. I only created one image as the bee flew off after being startled by the flash.

Rebel XT, Sigma 105mm Macro, Fill flash. Uncropped and handheld

ExposureTime - 1/160 seconds, F- 18, ISO 400, FocalLength - 105 mm

[Robert O'Toole]

Really good job for uncropped and handheld!
Good exposure job in the tough contrasty conditions, super timing and DOF.

2 things that I would think would really help the image would be a vertical flip, and tone down the few hotspots. I would never try to shoot one of these guys in the bright sun, but you did it and results are great other than the hotspots.

Thanks for posting.

Robert

[Stephen Stephen]

Thanks Robert. I'll try your suggestions when I get home and have access to the original file.

As far as shooting in bright sun it was about 6:00 p.m. and the sun was bright. I was so excited about trying out the new lens I didn't give much thought about what might be optimum conditions for macro images. What I've learned quickly is that DOF can really make or break an image at these magnifications.

[Robert O'Toole]

Let me know if you want me to take a crack at it, the raw file is the best way but sometimes you can recover info from a jpeg hotspot also.

Robert

[Jeroen Stel]

Hi Stephen,

I agree with Roberts comments and would like to add that these are very fast and difficult animals to photograph and in my experience it is best to look for a flower wich is quite flat and wait for one to land on that whilst having the flower pre-focussed in order to get a better composition.

Greetings,

Jeroen Stel

[Stephen Stephen]

Thanks Robert and Jeroen. Robert here's a re-worked version as per your suggestions. I cleaned up a couple of small dust specks and boosted the saturation a bit (too much?) but I couldn't seem to get rid of the hotspots. It's probably because I'm still a neophyte with Photoshop (Version 6 by the way). I tried to gently use the burn tool but all I got was grayed out areas.

Comparing the repost and the original the re-post looks worse overall but better in the flipped position.