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