Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/250 sec at f/16. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in auto mode and wireless control. Image Stabilization on. ISO 160. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/250 sec at f/16. Canon Speedlight 580EX II flash in auto mode and wireless control. Image Stabilization on. ISO 160. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Alright - just a last photo of bees and flowers.

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Di SP LD 1:1 Macro, 1/160 sec at f/5.6. ISO 400. No post production. Taken in our own backyard.

What Works: Focus is tack sharp - the detail in the bee is spot on, and the water droplets on the upper flower are nice and crisp. Despite being an outdoor shot, the exposure is nicely done with no over or under exposed areas.

What Doesn't Work: The composition isn't exactly super strong, especially with the bee's head being partially hidden within the flower - perhaps a lower angle would have worked better. Also, perhaps isolating a single flower with the bee would have worked a little better.

- Bill

Alright - here's day two of the bees and flowers.

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Tamron 180mm f/3.5 Di SP LD 1:1 Macro, 1/800 sec at f/3.5. ISO 400. No post production. Taken in our own backyard.

What Works: The focus is tack sharp on the bee's face. The macro lens really does a great job of magnifying the subject - you can even make out single grains of pollen (apologies if that makes your allergies act up). The foreground petals of the flower do a great job of framing the main subject.

What Doesn't Work: I could have used a smaller aperture to get a slightly deeper depth of field and get the entire bee in focus. Perhaps a catch-light in the closer eye would have been a nice finishing touch.

- Bill

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