Bee wings frozen in time

[DogHeadGod]

Awesome shot!

[katmd]

Originally Posted by equilution

Yesterday I posted a picture in "Share Your Shots" of a bee that I took in our front garden. There was an unexpected great response. The underlying tone was that it was some miracle shot. That's far from the truth. Here's the pic, and "How I Took It." Enjoy!



Here was the simply recipe. I used a Nikon D3, a Nikkor 105mm Micro lens, and a Nikon SB-800. I set the camera to shutter priority for 1/8000th of a second, and then let the camera figure out the aperture, which ended up being f/3.5 at iso 800. EV was 0, and WB was set to Auto. Metering was set to Pattern. With a bit better timing than I had, you could probably get a similar result with 1/1000th of a second. That's all the easy part.

The hardest part of this project was getting the bee to cooperate and stay in the field of view. I played with a few different combinations of focusing: single and continuous, with AF set to Dynamic AF. I ended up using continuous with Dynamic AF (9-point). This allowed the camera to constantly change focus while tracking the bee. It took some doing, but after about 30 shots, I finally timed it right and the bee fell right where I wanted him. As a bonus, he happened to be at the same plane as the flower.

I may try to shoot it again at F/8 or so so I can increase the DOF a little bit. Give it a go, and post your results in this thread. I'd love to see your shots!

great shot!

[Angelb]

Very impressive. The dof, the timing of capturing the bee at the perfect time, the fantastic detail, all make this a stunning shot.

[vivshtcr]

Originally Posted by equilution

I remember that shot, Arlon. That's the one that got me trying to freeze the motion. My next step is getting deeper DOF. Thanks!

I was registered at your forum. I have printed the test message. Do not delete, please.
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the warm/scary welcome,I'm really looking forward to talk about anything and everything horror related.

[Dana's Eye]

W.O.W. This is amazing (I really only wanted to say "Wow", but it wasn't enough characters).

[Rob Wood]

Excellent shot. I have a few similar shots, and I agree with you that the hardest part is following the bee, and getting the DOF, exposure/focus and composition all to work on a very small, fast moving subject. I like the crispness of your bee, but I'd rather see the wings blurred, to get the feel of motion.



Canon 40D
1/1300 sec
Action - fast shutter priority
f/7.1
135 mm

Rob

Originally Posted by equilution

Yesterday I posted a picture in "Share Your Shots" of a bee that I took in our front garden. There was an unexpected great response. The underlying tone was that it was some miracle shot. That's far from the truth. Here's the pic, and "How I Took It." Enjoy!



Here was the simply recipe. I used a Nikon D3, a Nikkor 105mm Micro lens, and a Nikon SB-800. I set the camera to shutter priority for 1/8000th of a second, and then let the camera figure out the aperture, which ended up being f/3.5 at iso 800. EV was 0, and WB was set to Auto. Metering was set to Pattern. With a bit better timing than I had, you could probably get a similar result with 1/1000th of a second. That's all the easy part.

The hardest part of this project was getting the bee to cooperate and stay in the field of view. I played with a few different combinations of focusing: single and continuous, with AF set to Dynamic AF. I ended up using continuous with Dynamic AF (9-point). This allowed the camera to constantly change focus while tracking the bee. It took some doing, but after about 30 shots, I finally timed it right and the bee fell right where I wanted him. As a bonus, he happened to be at the same plane as the flower.

I may try to shoot it again at F/8 or so so I can increase the DOF a little bit. Give it a go, and post your results in this thread. I'd love to see your shots!

[tamcry]

That is fantastic. The wing on the left side is beautiful. With the bee suspended in the green background and the flower in partial focus really makes this picture what it is. All I can do is sit back and keep staring at it. Great shot and thanks for the description of the procedure.

Al

[Blaze Jaffe]

Beautiful Shot!!!!

[Glayva]

Everything about this shot is stunning. The sharpness of the wings is just perfect, not too much but just enough to still give the impression of movement. I love too the excellent DOF. Shots like this make me want to try to do the same. Very well captured. Brilliant!!

[equilution]

Originally Posted by Glayva

Everything about this shot is stunning. The sharpness of the wings is just perfect, not too much but just enough to still give the impression of movement. I love too the excellent DOF. Shots like this make me want to try to do the same. Very well captured. Brilliant!!

Thanks, Glayva! Feel free to post your results! I'd like to see other's perspectives on how this shot could be done!

Jim