Early bee

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Early bee

July 3, 2021 by Mike Powell

It was pretty early this morning when I walked over to the garden of my dear friend and neighbor Cindy Dyer, but a bee was already busy on one of her lavender plants. A shot like this is easy to get with my 180mm macro lens, which lets me stand back farther from my subject. However, I happened to have a much shorter 60mm macro lens on my camera, which meant that I had to be almost on top of the bee. The bee was focused on the flower and did not seem to be bothered by my presence.

Posted in Bees, Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer | Tagged Alexandria VA, bee, Canon 50D, Canon 60mm, Cindy Dyer, lavender | 11 Comments

11 Responses

on July 3, 2021 at 9:38 am | Reply shoreacres

Clearly your early bee was a Do-Bee.
on July 3, 2021 at 9:43 am | Reply Change Therapy

My favourite insect, so a biased 10 out of 10 for this Mike 🙂
- on July 3, 2021 at 10:03 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I love bees too, though I would be hard-pressed to call them my favorite insect. 🙂
on July 3, 2021 at 10:48 am | Reply Suzette Benjamin

Great capture! Mike, I continue to be amazed at how fortune favors your forays into nature with such happy occasions as this!
- on July 3, 2021 at 11:24 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Suzette. I have always loved a quote from photographer Dorothea Lange who said, “The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.” I think that taking photos has really sharpened my eye, so that I am able to notice things that have always been present. Some of my friends are mystified that we can be together and I see more than they do. They ask me how I am able to see such tiny things and I love to respond with the cryptic comment–how is it that you are not able to see them? 🙂
  - on July 3, 2021 at 12:13 pm Suzette Benjamin
    
    You are gifted for your calling with sharp eyesight and keen senses for the beauty in miniature around us. Thank you. It is always a delight to see your posts. Cheers.
on July 3, 2021 at 11:46 am | Reply babsje

Hi Mike. Great post but I’m not so sure the bee is focused on the flower. Looks like he is focused on YOU! Best, Babsje
on July 3, 2021 at 4:31 pm | Reply Mitzy Bricker

Beautiful photo, Mike.

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on July 3, 2021 at 6:28 pm | Reply sv-anui.com

Great shot. When zooming in to check out the details, it looks like the bee is looking straight at you!
- on July 4, 2021 at 6:08 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I figured the bee was paying attention to its work, but when I looked again, it does appear the bee is looking straight ahead, right at me. 🙂
on July 7, 2021 at 1:10 pm | Reply Reed Andariese

Nice Mike! I hope you will Bee Careful when photographing them!