April 1 - 91/365
4/1/10
50mm lens, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 800
Have you ever seen those photos some people have in their portfolio that show detailed birds in flight, or super close ups of insects? I've always wondered how they got those photos and figured the likelihood that I would ever happen to catch a bird/insect/etc at just the right time [and get it to stay still for me to capture] was pretty slim. Well today was my day. I went out in my backyard to check on the growth of a few new plants and two bumble bees practically smacked into me while in the middle of mating. Not liking bees, even "tame" bumble bees, I started to dash back to the house. But luckily, I stopped to watch them for a minute, and not long after, the female shook off her male mate and landed on a tree branch. And of course the male, not happy about being shoved away, hovered in front of the female, just waiting for his chance to pounce on her again. Lucky for me, I dashed into the house to grab my camera, even taking time to switch to my 50mm lens, and those bees were still there. I got as close as I could to them without scaring them off, but still needed to crop the photo a little bit to really show off the bees. I love that I was able to capture this moment in nature, and can't believe I was actually able to get one of "those" photos that I have always admired in others work.
2 comments:
Hey Melissa, I like what you are going for here...nice depth of field. One piece of advice. When you are shooting with a fast lens such as your 50mm 2.8, you don't need to boost your ISO up so high. That is the great thing about shooting in 2.8, it lets pleanty of light in without having to sacrafice image quality. The problem with boosting ISO is that you have a tendency to get digital noise. Plus, you were shooting on a nice sunny day. Typically, a rule of thumb in the industry is to keep the ISO as low as you can get away with, let the lens do most of the work. Just a suggestion, the shot turned out great!!! I love to color
Mike - thanks for the comment. I didn't take the time to adjust the ISO... I was just rushing to get the bees and was kind of surprised that it was at 800 after the opportunity was gone. Luckily the image wasn't blown out! But yeah, I would have preferred to go maybe 200. That is probably one of my biggest problems still is I don't slow down and check all my settings BEFORE I start shooting. I'm usually only paying attention to the setting that "matters most"... trying to break this habit! But I really appreciate the feedback - thanks! :)
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