High Speed Bee
Macro when combined with high shutter speeds can let us see the world around us is ways our normal human senses are incapable of perceiving. Think of the photos we have seen of the balloon being pierced by a dart or the apple flying to fragments as the bullet passes through it.
This photograph falls into that category. The photographer tells me he was photographing the poppy and the bee got in the way. (I think his tongue was in his cheek.) This shot took planning and expert implementation. He may have even used an automated trigger device, such as an inferred beam, to get this shot.
I believe his selection of a profile composition of the flower allowed the bee to be separated from the nicely softened background without environmental clutter. The insect has the appearance of being frozen in mid air. Note the detail in the wings. The focus is perfect and the timing remarkable.
Click on Image 
March 19th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
I was looking for some excercises in macro and the morning light was just right. Jim, you\’re right, the bee comment was \’tongue in cheek\’, I worked the flowers for several minutes amd multiple shots to get this image. I used a 90mm f2.8, Tamron Macro lens, and shot this at 1/640 sec. at f6.3, spot metering with ISO 200. Jim, thanks so much for the kind words. What is it Chick Hern with the Lakers used to say: \”I\’d rather be lucky than good\”.
I love macro photography, but often times it\’s very documentary, i.e. a color plate of a flower for a botanical encyclopedia, or for a web page selling bulbs. A combined subject captures a moment in nature itself.