Honey Bee in Flight

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LittleJohn_NC

Senior Member
Im am trying to get a good picture of a bee in flight 20 shots latter this is the best one ...it was crop ed from a larger photo.
Its out of focus I want to wings stopped in flight ...any suggestions ?
Taken with D3100
f/5.6
!/500 sec.
ISO-2000
55mm focal length bee.jpg
 
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Moab Man

Senior Member
Bees have an incredible flap rate. My suggestion would be to set up the camera on a tripod outside of a beehive. Work on getting the focus from the flight path to the lens of the camera on the tripod, set the lens to manual focus so it doesn't move and the VR off. Then crank (ballpark guess but you'll get the idea) that shutter speed up to 1/2000 and then adjust the aperture and ISO to accommodate that kind of shutter speed. Not having shot the bees this is where I would begin.

For shutter release I would use a remote. Maybe stand up two poles just outside of you picture area and then sit there using your eye to watch the little buggers fly in the picture area and snap the shutter. You will really have to anticipate these buggers coming in to catch them in time in your picture area.

This sounds so cool. Wish I had a beehive to sit in front of.
 
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Dave_W

The Dude
You need at minimum a shutter speed equal to or greater than 1/1000, a fast focusing macro, no fear of a high ISO and a whole lot of patience. I went thru a "bee's in flight" kick and spent way too many hours hanging around these lavender flowers


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LittleJohn_NC

Senior Member
Thanks for the help Ill take your suggestion an snap 50 or so shots see how they turn out. Getting the light right is a problem. To much shade in this area where the hives are.
 
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Geoffc

Senior Member
Wouldn't a speedlight be useful to freeze the action, whilst maintaining a small aperture for good depth of field and a low ISO. Obviously you would need a nikon that supported the FP flash modes.
 
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gqtuazon

Gear Head
LittleJohn_NC said:
Im am trying to get a good picture of a bee in flight 20 shots latter this is the best one ...it was crop ed from a larger photo.
Its out of focus I want to wings stopped in flight ...any suggestions ?
Taken with D3100
f/5.6
!/500 sec.
ISO-2000
55mm focal length
Click to expand...

I think this was just a bad time to shoot. Based on your settings, it appears that it was a cloudy or crappy day since you are already at ISO 2000.

Wait for a better day with good sunlight then do your bee hunting.
 
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