CalArti

Spring finally arrive in Kalamazoo these last few days – a little bit of sunshine and temperatures warm enough to open the windows and leave the jacket behind. At last, the few clumps of crocuses that pushed up out of the dirt finally opened.

And so it was time to try for some shots of honey bees. For the last several years bees in crocus flowers have been the first insect photos of the season, and trying to shoot bees in crocus flowers has become a personal spring tradition for me.

Bees are particularly difficult to photograph – for one thing, they are incredibly busy and move endlessly. They invariably are sticking their noses into flowers, seeking nectar, or heading out to another flower or back to the hive. Unlike flies, or dragonflies, or butterflies,or almost all other insects, bees never stop and just –pause- to take in the world around them.

Past spring sessions have resulted in some decent shots. The 2002 image appeared as a one and third page spread in Science World, and the 1999 “Ah, Spring!” shot remains one of my personal best in the bee category.

So here are the results from today’s shoot. As always, click on the image for a link to a larger image.

The second image is my favorite – the motion blue in the head and right leg (her right) of the bee makes you realize just how fast these guys are!

Hopefully, a few new bee shots will be added to this post, before the crocuses wither away.

Technical details: Pentax *ist-D, SMC A* ED 200mm f4 macro, AF360fgz flash, monopod and home made flash bracket.