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Stalking bees in the garden

Those of you who know me will find it very odd that I actually attempted to get some shots of bees the other day.  Even more shocking is that I went with my MP-E 65 instead of the 180L- which is what I normally use when stalking bees.  The thing is, I am absolutely terrified of things with wings and stingers.  However, I am beginning to warm up to bees and I have found that they generally don’t mind me taking their picture while they are busy gathering pollen.

I photographed what I believe to be three different types of bees that day.  All of them were gathering pollen and generally didn’t mind me.  Sometimes when one got rather close I would winch a bit but in general they didn’t seem very annoyed with me.  There were quite a few at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens and bees could be found on a wide variety of flowers.  Though I spent most of my time taking pictures on purple alliums, I liked the shots of one that I found on a triangular yellow flower a bit more.  Here is a shot of the flower, though I do not know what type it is.

I would generally start at 1x, and then slowly go down to 2x as needed.  I didn’t dare start out at the higher magnification as I was too worried that I would bump the bee.  In general, I find myself becoming a bit less terrified of these every time I take a picture.  Of course, I’m not sure I would try this with a hornet or one of the giant honeybees I saw in Asia.  The next shot is one Nelya liked a lot.

Here you can see the bee gathering pollen with its tongue.  I’m rather proud of these shots and find it interesting how sometimes photographs bring a bit more than a pretty picture.

Related posts:

1. Time for some bees During the recent warm weather, I figured it would be nice to get out there and take some bee shots.  This also gave me a chance to work with my 180mm macro, which has lately been ignored in favor of the MP-E 65.  While the MP-E 65 is an amazing...
2. Overcoming my fears Those of you who have had the opportunity to go camping with me or sit down at a picnic with me will know one thing for sure. I am terrified of bees Basically I am terrified of anything winged that stings – which includes wasps, hornets, and bees. I strive...
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Tags: bee, Bellevue Botanical Gardens, flower, insect, macro, photography, pollen