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Flying Carpenter Bee

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted May 9, 2010317 views12 comments

This bee keeps buzzing in front of me during my early morning foray into Aoyama Cemetery taking pictures of the Japanese iris. I have no choice but shot it

D90 Nikkor 105mm iso640 F3 1/1600 sec HH severe crop. Thanks for viewing and C&C appreciated.

Thanks to Peter's ID, the title was changed from Bumble to Carpenter,

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by kayes on May 9, 2010 at 8:31 AM

Gary, I like this shot! Reminds me of The Flight of the Bumblebee

Registered on February 23, 2010, 51 Posts, 98 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on May 9, 2010 at 8:51 AM

The head/eyes are nice and sharp Gary, good POV too..
Pretty darn good for having no choice

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by John Kerr on May 9, 2010 at 8:53 AM

Tough shot for such a fast moving subject. Looks like you handled it well. Nice detail in the eye and face. HH at that, IS on the 105mm? At the time I purchased my macro 100mm IS wasn't offer but there are many times I wish I had it. Great job.

Registered on October 28, 2009, 111 Posts, 1070 Comments

Comment posted by mark cillo on May 9, 2010 at 1:26 PM

Cool action shot. The details of the head are really good

Registered on July 27, 2008, 143 Posts, 1483 Comments

Comment posted by Peter May on May 9, 2010 at 1:35 PM

Great shot, Gary. Based on the hairless top surface of the abdomen and the behavior you describe, I think this is probably a large carpenter bee rather than a bumblebee.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 7 Posts, 239 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Yeoh on May 10, 2010 at 4:12 AM

John: This is a VR lens which comes in useful sometimes. The only handicap with this lens is the slow AF especially when the 'full' mode is used. I used manual focus in this situation to prevent the camera for searching and wasting precious time.

Peter: Thank you for the correct ID. This is listed in wikipedia as Japanese carpenter bee.

Registered on September 1, 2009, 588 Posts, 8184 Comments

Comment posted by Miro Susta on May 10, 2010 at 6:44 AM

Excellent detail shot. Nicely done Gary.

Registered on August 18, 2006, 719 Posts, 3736 Comments

Comment posted by John&Patty Benway on May 10, 2010 at 3:56 PM

Amazing shot Gary. Beautifully done.
John

Registered on May 12, 2006, 626 Posts, 8700 Comments

Comment posted by Laura Stafford on May 11, 2010 at 4:23 PM

Great capture of this little guy. I can't believe how big his eyes are. The background really sets him off.

Laura Stafford

Registered on November 3, 2009, 52 Posts, 375 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Duval on May 11, 2010 at 10:09 PM

Beautiful Gary,

It's a good thing no one teaches the bumblebee aerodynamics, becuase they would learn it's aerodynamically impossible for them to fly. Something silly about gross takeoff weight and lift quotients per wingbeat. Anyway the lack of technical knowledge doesn't seem to bother them in the least.

Paul

Registered on June 30, 2009, 508 Posts, 1907 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on May 13, 2010 at 9:32 AM

Love it perfect catch

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Ganz on May 19, 2010 at 4:52 PM

Fantastic to get the head so sharp. Nicely done.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 339 Posts, 759 Comments