Posted in Bees, Flowers, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Alexandria VA, blanket flower, Canon 50D, genus gaillardia, green spring gardens, metallic green sweat bee, sweat bee, Tamron 180mm on June 24, 2022| 5 Comments »
We have had rain and clouds the last few days and I feel the need for a pop of color today. This blanket flower (g. Gaillardia) provided a wonderfully colorful backdrop for a little bee that I spotted during a recent trip to Green Spring Gardens. I think that it may be some kind of sweat bee, but I did not get a close enough look at it to be able identify it.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bees, Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Agapostemon, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 60mm, Cindy Dyer, daisy, metallic green sweat bee, Runnymeade, Shasta daisy, sweat bee on June 20, 2021| 17 Comments »
How do you draw attention to the main subject in your photograph? One effective way is to choose a camera setting that will give you a shallow depth of field, so that only the subject is in sharp focus and the rest of the image is blurred. Another way is to ensure that the colors and texture of the background contrast with those of the subject.
I used both of these techniques yesterday morning when I spotted this metallic green sweat bee (g. Agapostemon) on one of the Shasta daisies growing in the garden of my neighbor and photography mentor Cindy Dyer. I love these little bees with their large speckled eyes and shiny green bodies and got as close to this one as I dared with my Canon 60mm macro lens.
I opened the aperture of the lens all the way to f/2.8 to let in lots of light and to achieve the narrowest possible depth of field. That is why the center of the daisy falls so quickly out of focus. As I was composing the shot, the flower reminded me of an egg that had been fried “sunny-side up” and I chose an angle that emphasized that look. (In case you are curious about the other camera settings, the ISO was 800 and the shutter speed was 1/800 sec.)
There is nothing super special about this image, but it is a fun little photo taken close to home that reminds me that beauty is everywhere. A series of creative choices in camera settings and composition by the photographer can often help to draw a viewer’s attention to that beauty. (I encourage you to click on the image to get a better view of the beautiful details of the little green bee.)
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bees, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Uncategorized, wildlife, tagged aster, Canon 50D, Fort Belvoir VA, genus Agapostemon, green metallic bee, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, metallic green sweat bee, sweat bee, Tamron 180mm on September 8, 2020| 14 Comments »
My eyes were attracted to the pinkish-colored asters when I spotted them last Friday at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge and I moved closer to investigate them more closely. I was delighted to see several green metallic sweat bees (g. Agapostemon) busily gathering pollen. I have always loved the coloration of these sweat bees that are so much smaller than the bumblebees and carpenter bees that I am more used to seeing.
The sweat bees were in almost constant motion and I got a little dizzy as I tried to track their circular movement around the center of the little flowers. I was happy that I was able to get a few shots in which the speckled eyes of the bees are visible—you may want to double-click on the images to enlarge them and see this cool little detail.
Asters generally appear in my area in late summer and early fall, another sign that the seasons are starting to change. I am not ready to let go of summer, though I must confess that I enjoy the somewhat cooler weather that we have been experiencing, especially during the nighttime hours.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Butterflies, Insects, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Agapostemon, Asclepias tuberosa, Butterfly Weed, Canon 50D, Fort Belvoir VA, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, metallic green sweat bee, Pearl Crescent, pearl crescent butterfly, Phyciodes tharos, Tamron 180mm on June 26, 2019| 13 Comments »
On Monday I spotted this small patch of Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge. True to its name, the Butterfly Weed had attracted several butterflies, which I think are Pearl Crescent butterflies (Phyciodes tharos), as well as several metallic green sweat bees (genus Agapostemon). The insects seemed to love the plant’s nectar and the scene provided a visual feast for viewers like me.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Bees, Insects, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged Canon 50D, genus Agapostemon, green bee, metallic green sweat bee, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, sweat bee, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA on August 3, 2018| 13 Comments »
Most folks are familiar with the comic book hero the Green Hornet, but have you ever seen a green bee? I don’t see them very often, so I was pretty excited to spot this one in some flowers last weekend at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I think this kind of bee is generally known as a metallic green sweat bee and is of the genus Agapostemon.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 