Beautiful Bee

Time and place: This photo was taken in the garden of The Margaret Roberts Herbal Centre on the R513 near Zilkaatsnek. The centre is open to the public on Wednesdays from 8h30 to 16h00 and the first Saturday of every month. They also have a large veranda where you can have tea/coffee and a variety of baked goods.

The photo was taken during the late afternoon while the sun was still shining brightly. Light was therefore not a problem but I had to consider the possibility of shadows on the subject. There was also a fair amount of wind, which could cause the image to be out-of-focus. We visited the centre with a group of people who all showed an interest in photographing the flowers and insects, which made it a bit crowded. However, once the group departed to enjoy refreshments, I could take my time at taking photos.

The bees were active around the Echinacea purpurea flowers. I liked the round shape of the centre of the flower and wanted to emphasise it in the composition of the image.

The photo was taken at a short distance, which allowed for the subject to be sharp and the background blurred with all the beautiful colours of the garden.

I took about 12 photos of the subject, many of which were out-of-focus due to the wind and the movement of the bee. I admit that this photograph was the result of more luck than patience.

Equipment and settings: I used a Nikon D5000 camera, a macro lens with 85 mm focal length and a tripod. Shutter speed was 1/125, Aperture was F18 and ISO was at 200.

Processing: I used Adobe Photoshop Elements 10. The only processing done on this image was to crop for good composition, sharpen, saturation and contrast.

Cornelia Niemand 4*