BUGS!!!

 

When I visited Ness Gardens recently I had hoped for lots of bright and beautiful flowers, but I was a little disappointed as there were fewer flowers on display that I had expected. So, as well as photographing the blooms that were there I took advantage of the good light and shot some bugs.

That being said I didn't always have quite the right camera settings and as these creatures are never in one place for long I was a bit worried that many of the images would be unusable. That would have been the case if I had not shot in RAW, but because I did I was able then to take advantage of the excellent Adobe denoise function to enhance the final image.

So love them or hate them these bugs are shown off to their best advantage.

The face of the bee in the first shot is obscured by its wings but I love the pose as its feet are outstretched as it comes in to land on the blue flower.

The ladybird was hunting for aphids on the leaves of an apple tree, you might need to zoom in on its face to see the detail.

Perhaps the hardest critter to photograph on the day was the water boatman, poised as I was over the edge of the pond desperately hoping I didn't fall in. Just as I thought I had the focus right the little bug would dive below the surface and I would have to start again. I know that in this shot the face is a little out of focus but the main body looks sharp and how surprised are you at the gorgeous colours that are revealed in this shot? Normally when you see these things scooting around on the surface of a pond they look so dull, well look again, they're brilliant.

I can't recall what the aphids were feeding on, possibly an embryonic apple, there were so many of them. These are probably my least favourite of all the bugs in this selection.

Which might come as a surprise when you look at the next image of a fly, especially as I suffered some very nasty bites from a horse fly that day. However I am really pleased with this shot and this one is definitely a result of some editing in Lightroom to improve the exposure and reduce the noise. I had the initial settings all wrong so all I got on the camera's LCD screen was a dark frame but with a little work I have revealed all the detail that was there.

The final shot of a damsel fly was a bit of luck too as they were so busy flying around it seemed most unlikely that I would see one at rest. Also if you look really closely a little way below its leg on the inside edge of the leaf there is a tiny (and I mean really tiny) little mite which would not have been visible to the naked eye.

Anyway, if you have read this far thank you for taking the time to not only look at the pics but also read a little about them. Why not leave a comment, perhaps say whether you have a favourite image from today's selection and what you like about it...

Foraging

 

I may have gone a little overboard today posting 6 pictures of 5 different bees but hopefully they will bring a little sunshine into your day.

As I mentioned yesterday the early spring blooms combined with the sunshine certainly brought out the bees so I had some fun trying to capture some sharp images. I shot these at 1/1250s using my 100mm macro lens. A fast shutter speed was necessary to freeze the motion of the bee in flight (pic 4) where its wing almost looks like it is crafted from glass. In that image and the last one too you can see the pollen sacs beginning to fill up.

Although the bees in the other pictures appear settled on flowers they were actually constantly on the move so again the fast shutter speed was essential.

Using a macro lens also allowed me to capture lots of detail, in particular I wanted o look at the difference in their eyes. If you look at the bumble bee in the first shot his eyes are smooth, as if they have a hard black shell, I wonder how it is actually formed and what the bee can see.

In contrast the black bee in picture 5 and the honey bees in the other images all have compound eyes, if you look closely you can see they are made up of a concave array of hexagonal cells. I wonder whether this has advantages over the smooth eye of the bumble bee?

What I only spotted when I started to process these images was that the right eye of the first honey bee on the bright yellow flowers is actually damaged, it has been pushed inwards, leaving a shield shaped indentation. Perhaps he has flown into some obstacle, I am sure it must have an impact on his vision, after all, imagine what it would be like if you got hit in the eye with a big stick!!!

Buzz Buzz Buzz

With all the wonderful spring flowers coming into bloom there is a feast of colour but also a feast of pollen for all the pollinating bugs and bees which are so important for the protection and propagation of our native flowers and fruits.

This coming May there is a wildlife trust project #NoMowMay during which people are being encouraged not to mow lawns and verges to give wildflowers and pollinators a chance to develop which seems like a really good idea. If I had a lawn I would definitely take part. 

A Work In Progress

Unlike yesterday, when not everyone would agree about how beautiful the subject was I don't think anyone could seriously disagree about today's offering.

Red flowers are difficult to photograph. It's not because they're camera shy or move about more than any other colour but because getting a true representation of the colour is really difficult. So there are some flowers that I never bother trying to shoot.

I am not 100% certain but I think this flower is a red variety of Rudbeckia, often known as Black-Eyed Susan a perennial flower that looks great with masses of colourful flowers which open out to a broad flat(ish) face with bright petals that gradually fold back towards the stem and in doing so the central black platform becomes a ball of tiny spikes and curls which look gorgeous and are a magnet for bees and other pollinators. 

I have a number of shots of these flowers from my most recent visit to Ness Botanic Gardens and I wanted to share some of my favourites. I really love the final shot with the bee hard at work and the subtle back lighting. I think its a great image. If you like them or if you have  favourite why not leave a comment. 

Here to Brighten Your Day

I love these gorgeous yellow flowers. I am not sure what they are, a variety of sunflower perhaps, but they are certainly a hit with the bees. 

A Bugs Life

Having posted some pictures of bees yesterday I had a look through my folders and found these shots of bugs feeding on pollen in the gardens at Powys Castle.

These pictures were taken using the macro feature on a Tamron 70mm - 300mm lens, They were handheld and so not as sharp as I would have liked and I imagine that had I had my Canon 100mm macro lens I may have got some better shots.  All the same I'm sure you will agree they're not too bad.