Flora & Macro Gallery - Image of the Year
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Tree Bumblebee Portrait Image © William Hedberg |
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I noticed this Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) the evening before I took this shot. It had landed on a Yellow Iris growing at the edge of a pond at my home in southern Sweden, but it had not been able to fly home to the nest in the cold, wet and windy weather.
I left it alone hoping for more light and less wind so I could use a tripod and photograph it in natural light the day after. But the wind never died down and the bumble bee become more and more active, slowly crawling around looking for nectar so I mounted a flash and keeping the flower in the left hand and the lens resting on that wrist I took some images of this sleepy little bumble bee as it had a very late breakfast.
I used a Nikon D300, a Sigma 150 macro lens+36mm extension tube and a Raynox DCR-250 close up lens. Two separate images were manually stacked in Photoshop for extended dof.
About the Photographer
I’m 34 years old and I work at a tree nursery. I started photographing macro - as I suspect many do - with just the kit lens, but I quickly became addicted and wanted more magnification. I love documenting the world that is near us all, but that sometimes is hidden to the naked eye. The humblest insect or the smallest of weeds are often much more fascinating to me than the grandest of garden flowers.
