Bluebeard Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

This is my third macro shot from Meadowlark Botanical Garden in Vienna, VA. This time we are looking at Common Bluebeard and a buzzing bee. This grows to four feet tall and blooms in early fall. This particular one was full of bees and every time a big gust of wind came along I was afraid all of the bees were going to sting me. I decided to keep my distance and put my full zoom to test (200mm). I was about 1 meter away from this one. Taken on a nice day out last Sunday.

john_c, FeatherBirdLady, ChrisJ, ramesh_lalwani, devimeuxbe, PixelTerror, cunejo200, Emile, plimrn, alainh, huynt, cam has marked this note useful

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FeatherBirdLady (325) 2006-09-06 20:27 [Comment]

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Cormac (26461) 2006-09-06 20:36

Hi Stephen - that new lens really is a marvel! The detail in this is incredible! I like the colour too, and the blurred out background looks great as well. You're making this lens very tempting!

PJE (19575) 2006-09-06 22:15

Although I do not post macro photos I do know a good one when I see one. This photo Stephen is very well done indeed. Nice smooth bokeh background and the focal points of floral in focus brings added interest. The bee tops this one off. Very nice indeed Stephen. Kudos to you on this one. Excellent work!

ChrisJ (70569) 2006-09-06 22:46

Hi Steven

Good shallow dof, & excellent fg sharpness, on the flower. Excellent colour & lighting. The symmetry of the 2 stems is great & the bee is an interesting addition. Tfs!

ramesh_lalwani (3209) 2006-09-07 3:17

Hi Steve
I am enjoying your macros.You need real patience to get bee in your photo.Beautiful puple.TFS
Ramesh

devimeuxbe (56536) 2006-09-07 3:39

Hi Stephen
It's a nice capture and the sharpness is excellent.
It's not esy to realise.
So well done
Bertrand

PixelTerror (87215) 2006-09-07 3:57

Hi Steve,
A very vivid and pin sharp picture thanks to the narrow DoF and the excellent focus, colors stand out crisp and the about to land bee adds action, looking at it quietly in this room and not right in the action hurry I might be temptated by a vertical framing.
Have a nice day,
Jean-Yves

carper (66148) 2006-09-07 5:47

good shot of this incoming bee Stephen,
nice point of view, good details and good colours and quality, good macro shot. well done.
gr. jaap

john_c (24635) 2006-09-07 10:42

Hi Stephen,
An impressive macro capture. I like the delicate features of the flowers here; its almost like being in Japanese gardents. The blurring effect is especially effective, as there appear to be almost twin flowers in the background to match the ones in the foreground. My only slight irritation is with the cropped top of the flower to the right; however, I do not see how you could have handled it otherwise without cropping further and destroying the lovely flower on the left...The hovering bee is perfectly placed and overall this is a first rate shot.
John

jemaflor (39895) 2006-09-07 13:20

Hi Stephen,
lovely shot, perfect timing and focus, bravo it's very nice.

Kenny10pin (19301) 2006-09-07 15:31

great photo of the flying object, very clear shot indeed, I like the dof here too, well done

cunejo200 (7243) 2006-09-07 16:35

Hi Stephen,
Excellent capture of the bluebeard, but I'm more impressed with the blurry beautiful bg. And that sharp bee is a bonus. Best wishes.
Danilo

cessy (13647) 2006-09-07 16:39

woww... !!! great capture of the flying bee, something I have never been able to do
congrats Steve

feather (50588) 2006-09-07 17:59

I've come to the conclusion that macros are extremely difficult so hats off to you Steve. Every time I try it I can't get all I want in focus, even with quite small apertures. With only f5.6 you have all the fg flowers and the bonus bee perfectly sharp. Maybe I'm trying woth flowers that are too big. Very good work.
Kath

Emile (20177) 2006-09-08 2:08

Wow Stephen this is an amazing macro shot, beautiful colors and composition. Love the violet color of the flowers and especially the bee. Nicely captured. Good DOF.
Well done.

danyy (69963) 2006-09-08 12:47

Hi Stephen,
je suis fasciné par la qualité technique de cette 'macro' photo. Une DOF parfaitement adaptée au sujet, des couleurs plus que superbes sous des lumières douces.
Un vol d'insecte bien calé malgré le 1/400 relativement lent.
J'aime ces couleurs bleu-mauves, Muse aussi.
Bien à toi.
Daniel.

AmiBe (6042) 2006-09-08 15:25

Hi Stephen,
I like this one, I like the excellent bokeh.
The green and violet are a good mix.
The bee is well placed, just before landing :)
Well done

plimrn (19892) 2006-09-08 16:29

Wow Steve!!
You've captured excellent detail in the flowers and the bee. The close-up shows how the feathery stamens give the flower its name; then you throw in the bee as an enhancement!! I'm glad you didn't get stung. The DOF is lovely showing the ghosts of more flowers behind the detail,
Regards, Pat

nwoehnl (120) 2006-09-08 16:31

Hi Steve. It doesn't look like much on the thumbnail, but in full size it is undeniably charming and could almost be used by Nikon to advertise the macro-like capabilites of the 18-200 when employed at full zoom range. Good detail in this scene of the bee in mid-air approaching the flowers. Framing-wise it might be better if everything were half an inch more to the left but as it is it's a quite nice take.

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alainh (35391) 2006-09-10 1:25

hello Stephen
i see you like 'macros' !!
a very beautiful one with perfect DOF and a good timing to have this bee flaying !!
colours are top.
havea nice sunday Stephen
alain

danielswalsh (13330) 2006-09-13 21:14

I was tempted to say "shiver-me-timbers", but that was BlackBeard wasn't it.. haha

I really like this one Steve...
The sharpness is flawless, the shallow DOF creates a great bokeh, the colors are rich- yet REAL- and the bee is the icing on the cake.

Very well done Stephen!
- Dan

cam (8880) 2006-09-22 16:02

Bravo Steven
I wonder how many tries you did in order to get one with a bee so well in focus,I am asking because I did try and did not get very good results,so I appreciate very much your work here.
C'

dsidwell (9745) 2006-09-29 0:32

This is very lovely, Stephen! The depth of field is especially effective! Nice timing too. Good work!

michelle55 (158) 2006-10-26 16:20