Sleeping Bees

Bees--carpenter bees especially--seem to like to spend nights in the missing gardener's celosia patch. Some of them like cosmos, too.

This male eastern carpenter bee hung almost upside down. He was at an angle but the camera's orientation made him look like this. (Focus stack of 28 images)

Easier to comprehend this way?

  

A female. (Focus stack of 26 images)

I found this bumble bee in a blue spruce.

This one was covered in tiny water droplets after an overnight rain.

Focus stack of 22 images, retouched

This bumble bee found a cosmos to its liking.

Same bee. (Focus stack of 28 images, retouched)

The same bumble or different? It was a different day. (Focus stack of two images) 

Two Bugs

When making a focus stack, the idea is to take a series of pictures, each of which is focused at a different distance, or depth. I usually shoot insects handheld because they tend to move, and my strategy is to set the macro lens to its maximum magnification and then position the camera so that the bug is just out of focus. Then, using burst mode, I hold down the shutter button and move the camera forward. The camera takes pictures as long as I hold the button (maximum 8 per second).

If I move the camera too slowly, I get a lot of shots of the same thing. If I move it too quickly, I miss a slice, and part of the stacked image is out of focus. Like this:

This Asian lady beetle larva didn't move much, and I concentrated on moving the camera slowly so that I wouldn't miss a slice. It turned out well, except the chewing end.

Focus stack of 22 images

Bees are difficult for me to shoot handheld because they move a lot, and quickly. However, sleeping bees do not move! The missing gardener has a celosia patch, and we have seen carpenter bees sleeping among the flowers.

Instead of using burst mode and moving the camera, I took advantage of the bee's stillness and used a tripod and single shots. I used the viewfinder to focus so that the bee's face was almost in focus and took a picture. Then I turned the len's focus ring a small amount and took another picture. I repeated that, checking the viewfinder occasionally, until I'd captured the bee. I also used an extension tube for more magnification.

Focus stack of 16 images

The bee did move a little:

Unretouched stacked image

An antenna moved a bit, so there are shots with it in different positions, and a few of those ended up in the final stacked image. The focus-stacking software I've used lets one paint from a single image into the stacked image. I picked the image that showed the sharpest antenna and painted from that into the stacked image. Then I used a different image with no antennas showing to paint over the unwanted antennas.

I claim these uses of software to produce and improve an image do not contradict my lack of desire to use software to improve an image. I use focus-stacking software to overcome limitations in macro photography, at least in within my budget. I could use a smaller aperture for a larger depth of field, but that would require more light, and I don't want to carry around a flash and diffuser. Gimme my camera and natural light. I won't use software to remove a utility pole, but I will use it to remove artifacts of focus stacking.

Three Bees

Bees are probably my favorite insect subjects, not least because the missing gardener's plantings attract them April through October. If butterflies were half as abundant I might have a different favorite.

This honey bee was part of a failed focus stack. I was going to delete all the shots, but I decided I like this one.

 

A few days after I bought the extension tubes, I was madly trying to get more detailed shots than I could get without them. I moved the camera too much as I was shooting, and the collection of shots did not have enough of this bumble bee in focus. I was going to delete the set, but the missing gardener's comment made me reconsider. A pollen-covered bee is pretty cool.

Focus stack of 2 images

Carpenter bees are my favorite bee, partly because they're large as bees go. Their green eyes and a yellowish patch (males) help give them something I recognize as a face.

As is well-known, bees are busy, so it can be difficult to take a good picture of a bee and even more difficult to get multiple shots for a good focus stack. However, bees are still before they get going in the morning. This eastern carpenter bee spent a chilly (60° or lower) night on a flower. In the morning, I was able to get plenty of shots for focus stacks, and I managed to control the camera's movement to get good focus front-to-back.

Focus stack of 12 images

Some Bugs

The Missing Gardener's plants and the neighbor's cherry tree have attracted bugs this year. I used a macro lens for all shots.

eastern carpenter bee

Eastern carpenter bee. Focus stack of two images

 

Eastern calligrapher, a hoverfly. Focus stack of two images.

mining bee

Bicolor striped sweat bee. I hope I see it again; I need better pictures. July 24: I did see it again.

eastern black swallowtail

 

I use the Seek app from iNaturalist and Ohio Department of Natural Resources field guides to identify bugs. I use the Seek app and the Missing Gardener to identify plants.

2023 Part 4: Creepy

 Creepy, crawly, and squishy things from 2023.

a Malagasy leaf-tailed gecko's foot (Columbus Zoo, focus stack of 2 images)

Fall webworm (focus stack of 9 images). It has that ghostly look that the focus-stacking software can produce, but the individual shots look like this.

female eastern carpenter bee, I think (focus stack of 11 images)

male eastern carpenter bee (focus stack of 6 images)

male eastern carpenter bee (focus stack of 3 images)

Giant prickly stick insect (Toledo Zoo). If I recall correctly, it's about 3 inches long.

Pacific sea nettle (Toledo Zoo)

Focus Stacking Artifacts

The focus-stacking software I use can introduce artifacts into images.

 

Sometimes a "reflection" is generated. Here, there's one across the bottom. (Check out the crablike spider at the top.)

 

As I was shooting this caterpillar, an ant made its way along a lovage stem, and focus stacking gave ghost ants. There are reflections at the top and bottom, too.

Without ghost ants

When I shoot macro with focus stacking in mind, I set the lens to the closest focusing distance and then approach the subject until just before it's in focus. Then I shoot a burst as I move the lens closer.

I wanted the bug in addition to the bee. The bug was closest to the lens, so for the focus stack I chose an image with the bug and then skipped some images until the bee was in focus. The result is a semitransparent effect. This happens somewhat often and I haven't figured out when it's likely.

Without the image of the bug in-focus, the bee is less ghostly.

To get the picture I wanted, I took the previous image and pasted-in the bug and parts of the flower.

Cincinnati October 10

The purpose of a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo was to see Fritz, the baby hippo. It was tough to get pictures of him, though, because people stand right up against the glass.

I used my phone to capture Fritz and his mom, Bibi, comparing maws.

Fiona, Fritz's half-sister, dozes.

Fiona

African painted dog

common murre

honey bee

carpenter(?) bee

Columbus August 22

These pictures and those of the masked weaver are from the Columbus Zoo August 22.

African leopard

carpenter bee

koala

red-footed tortoise

female Abyssinian (northern) ground hornbill

 female northern (Abyssinian) ground hornbill