This one’s just a mess. But what a glorious mess. Focus all over the place. Two metallic green sweat bees. Bokeh going sideways. Again, not great art, but great nature. And that’s lots of the point of this site.
Tag: Metallic green
Metallic Green on a Sunflower
Pre-sunrise (before it crested the mountain) shot of a metallic green sweat bee getting ready to leave a sunflower. Love their eyes. And the green with the neat reds and yellows of the sunflower. So amazing and complex. And this one was just covered with pollen, too – though you cannot see it in this particular shot.
First Cone Flower Post of the Season
Got a great bumble on the echinacea a couple of days ago, but my computer crashed while I was going through the folders and I’ve not been back to them. Ugh. Dumb. But…this morning, I found this little metallic green one hard at work. And because I like to post current stuff as and when I can, here’s today’s. I chose a profile shot so you can see the pantaloons or saddlebags or just plain pollenfilth. Great legs on this gal. Anyway… Love both. The bee and the flower. Summer must be in full swing!
One of my Favorite Faces
This is a metallic green sweat bee coming out of a sunflower. I just love the color, texture, face, and eye(s). Those three little bumps on the top of the head are eyes, too (ocelli-simple eyes – in contrast to the compound eyes on either side of the head). As far as the metallic ones go, I think the metallic mason bees are a bit neater because they’re whole-body metallic. But the face of the sweat bee is just super. The depth of focus is so tough. On one level, I’d prefer that everything were in focus (see also: focus stacking). On another…and my level (given that I shoot handheld, too)…I think it’s better art when focus (and lack of it) is part of the piece. My site, my preference, I guess. Plus you’ve got to kill or incapacitate the bees to do the focus stacking (or use a focus rail…or whatever else one might do in the not-handheld world). Phew. Happy Friday!
Waking Up – and a Photobomber
Might not be fair to call that green, metallic sweat bee a photobomber. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t even see it until the picture was on my monitor. The bumble was sleeping on the salvia and just waking up. I anthropomorphize some, but that stretching… A good part of waking up. Anyway, I don’t often see the sweat bees sleeping anywhere. They’re generally pretty active, but looking at all the pictures, this one was inert. I wish I’d have seen it and gotten some shots that were in focus. So seldom that they hold still even a little. Anyway, double bee today. If nothing else, it really illustrates the size disparity between the two varieties.
Almost Two and a Cone Flower
Shot yesterday late in the day. Great, messy, pollen basket on the honeybee…and the metallic green sweat bee seems interested. It ended up bumping the honey bee, but the honey bee shrugged it off and kept working on the cone flower. Most of them are looking a little haggard now, but there are a few new blossoms, too.
I can’t seem to convince the bees that they all need to stay in the same focal plane. Fun nonetheless.
Two Sharing a Sunflower
This is so bad…it’s after five p.m. here, and I’ve not posted a bee yet today. When I travel, I pre-load a few new shots and schedule them to publish in the early morning (usually) – so they are available, consistently, early in the day.
When I’m here, I’m so consumed with catching up on other parts of life so I don’t post until way late. At least I’ve not missed a day. Yet.
So…here are a couple of natives sharing a sunflower yesterday. That metallic green sweat bee (again) along with a longhorn bee. The longhorns really love the sunflowers. I seldom see them anywhere else. Fun shot!
Colors
Are very interesting on this one. That’s a metallic green sweat bee on a sunflower in the early morning. Today, in fact. And it’s nice to be among the bees again…although I’m hitting the road this weekend for a festival in Fort Collins, Colorado. Busy summer. The bees seem to be at their peak now. As do the wasps. I’m a live-and-let-live kind of guy, but I got hit on the neck the other day…just a small bit of venom, it seemed…but that source nest is no longer. Ugh.
So…here’s today’s bee. Stay tuned for some more bonus fun in just a minute!
Strange Light – Metallic Green Sweat Bee in a California Poppy
Lately I’ve been shooting very late in the day. Nearly dusk. So much to do. So Tuesday of this week, I thought I’d try in the morning before the sun crested the mountain. The light is lots cooler than in the evening. But I managed to get a good grab on the California poppy that was just opening. Love these little metallic-looking sweat bees. And this one has her wings wide…just leaving that bloom.
I’ll be at the Logan Summerfest Art Festival or Faire or whatever it’s called today. It’s at the fairgrounds and my booth is full of neat shots. Come have a look if you’re in the area. It runs from 11:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m., I think. Madness.
Metallic Green Sweat Bee Face
An an aster. Usually the backgrounds aren’t so severe…even sere-looking. Strange. Don’t remember what that is. House, maybe, but wrong color. Anyway…enjoy!
Posting early in advance of attending the Arts Festival in St. George, Utah. It’s on Friday and Saturday of this week. Really hope to see and meet some of you there! I’ve got a bunch of neat stuff including the bees that you’re familiar with as well as some wild mustangs, wildlife from a trip to Yellowstone, and a bunch of remarkable birds that I photographed this winter. Stop by if you can.
