So This is what a warm late summer afternoon looks like if you really feel like it: In the garden, a honey bee lands in the middle of the violet sea of flowers and dives deep into the yellow glowing pistil of a blossom. The pollen grains cover the insect, which diligently collects food, from head to abdomen. The worker seems a bit hectic as she flies from one food source to the next. Even when our camera’s flash goes off, the striped guest remains unimpressed, like a model on the catwalk.
We curiously check the image on the monitor. The photo shows a side full-body portrait from the right, the focus is on the shiny black compound eye – the structure becomes visible in the highlight above. The fine hairs are beautifully outlined; natural and artificial light complement each other well. Only a little post-processing on the computer will be necessary. The image from September is our favorite of the photos taken for this report. The most important ingredient for this? It wasn’t the technology, even if it was quite complex: a full-format 35mm system camera had two extension rings and a macro lens, the fill light was provided by an unleashed flash with a hemispherical diffuser and TTL exposure control via radio. But the time factor was even more important.
#macro #photography