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Rivertay07

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Bee collecting nectar in Sardinia

Bee collecting nectar in Sardinia
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NIKON D3

Aperture 8/1 ISO 800 Shutter 1/3200 Focal Length 340/1

location

Sardínia, Aitolia kai Akarnania, GR

upload_date

Mar, 2023

Views

391

Likes

+26

Awards

Spring 23 Award

Peer Award

+13

Absolute Masterpiece

Outstanding Creativity

Top Choice

Superb Composition

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Behind The Lens

Location

I love insects and when I saw this bee collecting pollen, I wanted to photograph it. I saw the Bee in Sardinia several years ago.

Time

I was on a holiday with my family and young grandchild. I tended to creep out of the house early in the morning to enjoy a bit of peace and quiet on my own. This Bee was active early in the morning. The plant had attracted several Bees who were all collecting pollen.

Lighting

I was lucky it was a bright and warm morning. This allowed me to shoot at a high shutter speed without increasing the ISO to ensure the best image quality possible.

Equipment

I used a Nikon D3 DLSR and only had a Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens with me. I didn't expect to achieve a result as good as this with the equipment I had with me. I took the photograph without a tripod. I shot at f/8, 1/3200s and used a 1.4 x extender.

Inspiration

It was a beautiful morning; I could hear bees buzzing and I could smell a sweet fragrance from the flower. I stopped and watched for a while and then decided to try to capture this idyllic moment for life.

Editing

I needed to crop the image and then gave it a light touch processing using Nikon's propriety Capture Software. I increased saturation and added a little sharpening.

In my camera bag

As I grow older, I no longer want to carry heavy camera equipment around, so I recently decided to move to shoot with Olympus (OM System) equipment. I will carry the equipment which I think I will need on the day. Most of my time is spent photographing Birds/Animals or insects. For birds and animals, I use an Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 150-400mm f4.5 TC1.25x IS PRO Lens. I no longer carry a tripod, I hand-hold my camera. For macro work I use the dedicated OM-Sytem's macro lens (either the 60mm or the 90mm macro lens) and use flash with a Cygnustech diffuser. I always carry at least two spare batteries and a spare memory card.

Feedback

For flying insects (or flying birds) a high shutter speed is essential. Depth of field is also important to make certain that your subject is in focus throughout its full length. These are best achieved in good light conditions and ideally in the Golden Hour to avoid harsh shadows, I keep the ISO as low as possible to get the best image quality. But it is always a compromise and I prioritize shutter speed over ISO to ensure my images are sharp.

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Rivertay07

Rivertay07

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Bee collecting nectar in Sardinia

Behind The Lens

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