Pollen
Going for Gold
While hiking a trait to a waterfall in Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota, I spotted a patch of yellow wildflowers. The flowers were humming with busy bees. As I focused in on the bees, I noticed the orange area of their abdomen. While processing this image I did a quick internet search and learned these are orange-banded bumblebees. I don’t think I’ve seen this variety (Bombus ternarius) before. If you zoom in, you can see the legs of the bee covered with pollen from the flowers. You can learn more about this variety of bee at Bees Wiki.
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Center of the Cosmos
This bee was about some serious bee work on the center of a purple cosmos flower. I don’t recall seeing this particular type of bee before – with white hair, orange antennae and a yellowish-green eye. However, this year I’ve photographed several.
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On A Pedestal
This is a great time to crawl through the garden looking for bees and bugs. This guy was about his business – working the garden, buzzing from flower to flower.
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Messy Hands
This is an image that dates back to 2006. This photo was the initial inspiration for my experimentation and reasonable success with macro photography.
My old camera, a Kodak Easyshare DX7590, did an exceptional job with macro shots. When I saw what was possible – after taking this image – I started to major on the minors. I can spend hours crouched down by a flower bed, moving slowly, trying to be unnoticed while I position my camera as close as possible to any tiny creatures I can find. I was just a few inches from this bee when I snapped this photo.
I love seeing the normally, unseen details of God’s creation. For instance, in this image, I am fascinated by the bee’s wings, the pollen on the flower and bee’s legs, that little dongle thing protruding from the bee’s head, it’s eyes and the orange tipped spears of the cone flower.
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To see a larger version and even more detail, click the photo.
All of the photos I post are available for purchase. If you’d like to buy one, click on the blue “Buy this Online” bar below for a variety of print and frame options or contact me for digital purchase and licensing options.