A new bee…every day
Serious question: why do we humans think it’s okay to say stupid stuff as long as it’s alliterative? Or rhymes? Or almost rhymes? Click it or ticket. Who says that, really?
End of mini-rant. And enjoy another reason to love the chrysanthemums. I’m trying…and I might be almost there…and it’s pics like this one that might be doing it.
I have it in my head that in years past, I kind of went overboard on posting bees on blanket flowers. Might or might not be true, but I’ve not posted as many this year. Here’s a neat one from June.
And I might be a bit of an evangelist for the blanket flowers. They’re really inexpensive, easy to care for (and don’t take much water), they bloom from about May (at least here in Utah) all the way through the first hard frost. And, most importantly, the pollinators just love them. And they’re another that seeds and morphs from year to year – the bee creations. And that’s fun itself.
For some reason, I really like the profile shots like this one in which they’re hanging off the flowers. I shoot so many bees during the summer (literally thousands of pics a day on some days) that the shapes and attitudes of their bodies become familiar to me. This is one of the best in my mind. And the lavender is just fantastic because it is.
This one just made me smile when I saw it. The plant’s also called the bluebeard (and you can see why…although it’s purple-ey, too). Blooms in the late summer and early fall and it’s such such such a magnet for pollinators. They’re so attracted to it. Love the bee in this one. It’s a good look and fun to see her neck a bit. Shadows are a little nasty, but she looks really good.
Didn’t have as many salvias around this year in the garden and I’m not sure why. I love them and so do the bees. And they, like the sunflowers (and many others), are products of the bees pollination. Fun to see the colors and even sizes vary from year to year. And they, like many of the others, wander around the garden as they seed and grow and seed and grow.
Great look at her in flight. Love it when I get those sharp shots.
Seems like the last few have had suspect light. And we’ll continue the streak today. This one was shot toward the end of August right at the crack of noon. The shadows on the flower indicate that it was sunny…not sure I understand the weirdness of the light. But the bee is great. Maybe this one is due for editing by someone more skilled than I. I like it, though. And she’s a gorgeous bee.
Shot at the Ogden Botanical Garden.
Another one with less than great light, but the plant is fantastic. And the bumble ain’t bad either. One thing I like about this plant is the blue blue blue of it. So few are this blue – usually purple sneaks in . You saw the azura in the name, right?
The other thing about this salvia is that it’s just so tall. Probably five feet at least. And each stalk comes from the ground…and it’s usually a little breezy here (or worse). So getting a sharp grab on this one is pretty rare for me. This is a good one.
The background is a fun disaster. Not the bokeh of creamy legend for sure, but I do like the glarey orb-ish stuff in the background. It’s frowned upon by photographers, generally, to have those light orbs in the photos, but I usually like them. They’re an artifact of light and physics and lens…and I think they often belong. And sometimes enhance. Here they’re messy. But still…
Is she workmanlike just going at what she does? Is it a workmanlike shot from me? Just a standard, for-the-site, legit shot?
I’m really bad at politically correct language. But I can’t say workpersonlike. Or workwomanlike. They don’t mean the same thing. Workbeelike might work.
So I’ll give the excuse that I’m old. Stilted. Staid. And call it a workmanlike shot all the way around…from the subject to shooter and be okay with it. If you’re not, just ignore me and love her. And she’s surely a she ;).
This one almost made it into the calendar this year, but the light wasn’t all that perfect. But the shot is a lot of fun. Two bees, in flight, pollen basket… And lovely flowers. Can’t wait for spring! Earliest bee I ever shot was on January 28th a few years ago, so…that’s really just eight weeks away. Likely won’t happen that early this year, but still…kinda makes me happy.