Well, summer has officially been over for a couple weeks now, and the weather is quickly following suit. Which means that sights like these are all but over for a while.

Fall is probably one of my favorite seasons - the cooler weather is more conducive to outdoor activities, hockey season starts back up, and the fall foliage is always a wonderful gift from nature. Since we had such a hot and dry summer, I don't know colorful of a fall we'll get this year, so I figured I'd let summer linger a little longer.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Di SP LD 1:1 Macro, 1/510 sec at f/3.5. ISO 200. Dolica AX620B100 tripod. No post production. Kanawha State Forest, Charleston, WV.

Why This Photo: I frequently try for photos of insects in flight, and after hiking around for about five hours this day, I decided to take a break by sitting in a field of wild flowers and waiting to see what would come to me.

What Works: The shallow depth of field (which is necessary to help get the fast shutter speed to freeze the motion of the honey bee and flowers in the breeze) produces a nicely blurred background. The focus is fairly sharp, though a bit blurred on the bee itself - whether from missed focus or from motion blur. The catch-light in the bee's eye is a nice touch.

What Doesn't Work: The composition is a bit bland with the flower at the dead center of the photo, perhaps a post production vertical crop would convert this to a more functional photo.

I have a handful more flower and bee photos, so I'll get around to sharing them sooner or later.

- Bill