Lots going on here. Two Longhorns, two sweat bees, and lots of color in the petals. Shot toward the end of July. I love the sunflowers. They’re all bee-created hybrids and it’s fun to see where in the yard they’ll show up…and how they vary from year to year. Fantastic!
Tag: sunflower
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.
A Standby: Sublime Longhorn in a Sunflower
The longhorns are so partial to the sunflowers. And they’re such complex, hairy-looking things. Have so many shots of them that are similar to this. And most of them give the same feeling. There’s an easy smoothness looking at them. They’re all different – and this one is great if only for the green background. Nice combination of colors and shapes – even composition is interesting. And, of course, the bee looks great.
Bumble on a Sunflower…Leaf
Another brutally long day. But some progress. About ready to file everything in the “bitten off more than I can chew” bucket.
But this site is about bees – not kvetching. So here’s a great one from August. Some interesting composition and bokeh – and the bee looks great, too. If you look closely, you get a good look at the claws on the two front legs as they grip the edge of the leaf. Another interesting thing to note is that you can see that the leaf has a thickness. Of course it does, but it’s not something I think about when I think of leaves. Note, too, that the grasshoppers have been to work on that particular leaf…like just about everything else in the garden.
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!
Can’t for the Life of Me…
…recall the name of this bee. Looks very much like a longhorn and it’s in the sunflower, but I don’t think that’s it. If I can reclaim that bit of my leaky brain, I’ll edit the post. Meantime, enjoy the bee and the neat, red-tinged sunflower. Beautiful.
In other news, I’m trying to get the resources and location together for a gallery here in Ogden, Utah – and the process is rife with hiccups and dead ends. Please send good thoughts this way. I think it’s time for that to happen.
Just Another Bumble on a Sunflower
I think that this is a golden bumble on an unknown variety of sunflower. I really like the red-tinged petals. They seem to vary from flower to flower on this particular one – some being more red than others. Not lots to say about this shot. The light’s not great, but there’s lots to like about it (including the bee’s shadow).
Late Shot on the Sunflower
This heavy schedule of art festivals nearly every weekend is killing me. Only have just more than a full day back – then on the road again. Tried to shoot bees this evening. Almost 7:00 p.m. here. Got some strange light, but a great bee, great flower, great focus, interesting background…and that shadow. Something I love.
Sorry for being brief, scattered, and a bit off today. Try to love this shot…
And I really could use some help selecting shots for the calendar…please.
Great Sunflower – Great Bee
Current festival: On Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (September 4-6), I’ll be in Avon, Colorado in Nottingham Park with my art. Stop by and have a look. Bonus here is that on Monday night, Los Lobos will be playing a free show.
So many of the shots that I post here, I need to crop some. Tickles me when I get a shot this close and clear that doesn’t require a crop. Might be a good candidate for the calendar. Also nice that this sunflower isn’t chewed up by the grasshoppers (yet). Most are. Good look at the veins in her left front wing. All in all, a neat shot.
Bonus: A View into a Bee Hotel
Five bees on this one. Top two in focus, the bottom not. Very, very narrow focal plane… But the flower looks great. Fun light this morning.
Oh, the bees are all longhorns. You really get a good look at the antennae (for which they’re named) in the upper-right bee.
