Honeybee

[Allen Sparks]

Canon Rebel XT, Sigma 150mm macro, Tamron SP Pro 1.4 teleconverter, Canon Speedlite 580 EX II
ISO 400, 1/200, f16

[Randy Stout]

Allen:

Well captured, bee is sharp, well exposed, like the pollen on face, has obviously been working this type of flower already.

Wish the top of the flower wasn't in shadow, and perhaps you could lighten that area slightly.

Might be worth a look to tone down the sheen from the flash on the abdomen and wing.

I tried some alternative crops in my mind, and thought about coming up just a bit, and in from the right a bit.

Thanks!

Randy

[Ken Childs]

Allen, the bee is nice and sharp but much of the good stuff is hard to see because this is a bit dark. I used CS3's SH tool to lighten it up so you could better see the parts that are now hidden in darkness and it looked better but it also brought out some extra noise so NR was needed. I also agree with Randy about the crop and the flash highlights on the body.

All in all, a very nice image that could be made even better with a few simple tweaks. :)

[Julie Kenward]

I think Randy and Ken nailed the main problems - you certainly did a good job of freezing the moving bee but the entire image feels underexposed to me and I find myself looking at other things in the image (like the shadow on the flower and the leaf in the BG). You definitely have the ss down - now I'd try to bring up the exposure and place yourself in a position where the lighting was better and more even.

[Allen Sparks]

Here is a reworked image...different crop and I lightened the flower. This image is probably best for a learning exercise for me...but yes, it is a dreary day in Memphis and have time on my hands....

[Reza Gorji]

Allen: Great job.
I was thinking to increase DOF but I see that without much light the shutter would have been lower and motion not stopped.

[Vida van der Walt]

Allen, a difficult shot and you did very well. Good advice given and I like the repost even better.:)