# A few closeups of my bees drinking from the pond...



## Irvin cooper (May 2, 2011)

Took a few minutes today to grab some shots of my bees drinking from the pond. Nothing worth drooling over, but some cool shots none-the-less. Enjoy.

http://s646.photobucket.com/albums/uu181/mhoeting/3Sep Bees/?albumview=slideshow


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

Neat shots Irvin, they would have to be sure to stick the landing or end up in the water.


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## philll (Feb 15, 2011)

Terrific shots! thanks


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## Jetjockey (May 18, 2011)

Most of your shots seem a little blurry or sightly out of focus next time try increasing your shutter speed and pay closer attention to your point of focus and depth of field. Remember even for professional photographers only 1 in 40 shots turns out perfect. Its preferable to showcase only your best work online rather than employing the drag and dump method. Your on the right track macro photography is extremely difficult and with a little persistence you'll be shooting amazing shots in no time.


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## Irvin cooper (May 2, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback, Jetjockey. I am far from a professional, and not even up to amateur quality. Macro photography is an interest of mine, but I am not even sure where to start. I was thinking of getting a mono-pod to help me keep the camera steady.

Can you make a lens recommendation? Those were shot with a Canon Rebel XTi with a 70-300mm zoom. 

Thanks again.


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## Jetjockey (May 18, 2011)

You'll get better results with the EFs 18-55mm IS kit lens but you'll have to get close and use manual focus, auto focus tends to hunt around a lot at close distances. Set the focus to the nearest setting and move the camera in and out to focus on your subject . Does the XTi have the auto ISO feature? If it does set it to auto and select Tv mode roll your shutter speed up to 1/1000 and shoot hand held. Then in photoshop crop zoom to focus on the bee. I shot most of these with a T2i and a EFs 55-250mm IS then crop zoomed them in photoshop.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/matt-bearup/

http://bugguide.net/bgimage/user/60607

I don't have a true macro lens, its on the wish list as they run around $600, but if you wanted to really get into macro photography that's what I would recommend.


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## Irvin cooper (May 2, 2011)

Thank you for all of this great information! I am in Tv mode, but my settings are not near what you indicated. I will looking into the 18-55mm lens. I have been looking at the Canon 100mm macro. Have you looked at this lens? I would be interested in your thoughts on this. I use photoshop for my cropping and zooming. I also use manual focus on everything. 

Thanks again for the great info.


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## Jetjockey (May 18, 2011)

Oh you didn't get the 18-55mm with the camera? It makes for a affordable all purpose intro lens not a bad bang for the buck lens. The 100mm macro will get you true macro results and would be FAR superior to the 18-55mm. Don't forget to look into Canon mount macro lenses manufactured by Sigma or Tamron optically they are very comparable to name brand Canon lenses at significantly more affordable prices.


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## Jetjockey (May 18, 2011)

I just noticed you are in Jonesboro AR. I lived there in 2008/2009 when I was flying the 1900D for Mesa Airlines small world.


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## Irvin cooper (May 2, 2011)

We likely would recognize one another. I was on the Mesa plane a few times a month....


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Cool.


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