A very angry bee....!

Ok back to some macro work. My latest bee shot - boy he was an angry fellow....

Sigma 105 - ex Macro

Iso 100, F8, 1/350 - dual flash.

C&C please.

A truly great capture. At first it seemed a bit over sharpened.
But it's not. It's just frightening sharp. And those jaws?
Think away the antenna's, separate the head and there you have it.
The creature from the movie Alien.
Only the slime from his beak is missing. brrrrrrrrr
Martin.

Thanks Martin. I'm quite pleased with the result and love the reflection in the eyes. Adds something.

He was indeed angry....

That is excellent, really like it.
Would be well happy with that shot.

How much cropping .. if any ?

Thanks Mike.

Well it was just cropped around 20 %. Just to position the flower right in the shot. Glad you like it.

Nice shot, he does look a little agitated

You say you used a dual flash : what setup have you got, any pics of it.

I was inspired by you Clarky. I haven't had time to set up a rig like you (btw. could you post have you made it again - i lost the thread it was in). So basicly I handhold one (my 540) and I have one on my manfrotto tripod - duck tape is excellent for holding it (an old flash I got from a bundle I bought some time ago)

I figured a setting I use for most of the work. I works most of the time with ok results. It's not the best - and I probably look pretty stupid chasing the damm insects.

This one was sitting quite still for som time - hence I had the time to actually fire 3 shots - this was the last one and then he came for me

Here is my latest setup, I have also made a single bracket which holds my AF-360FGZ and the dual head which holds 2 x AF-160 flashes.

Let me know if you want any information on the materials i have used, I will go into a bit more detail.

Single head bracket. I use this one mainly with my sigma 180mm but is also good if you are reversing a lens or using tubes and need to get in very close.






Dual head flash. Very good with my Pentax 100mm. The 160 flashes are not that powerful but are very light weight.

Although I doubt as stupid as Clarky must look crawling round with that lot

Still, it's the results that count, not how daft you look getting them.

I have learned not to look anyone in the eye when carrying it around

Great capture...i love the colour of her "fur"

I can't see an image

Should be up!


Peter: thanks....appriciated

Clarky: Could you pm a list for the dual setup. My setup is stupid and not working all the time as I have to use the tripod...

Sure, give me a day or 2 and i will get some better pics of the individual bits and pieces.

I don't have the equipment, expertise, or patience to produce kit like Clarky's so I ended up buying a Stroboflex twin flash bracket (from Australia).

To go with it, I bought 2 x AF240FT flashes (they have the 5P socket for cable connection) from ebay, one is mint, the other is useable. I already had the cables and hot shoe adapters. All this goes on my *istD and I have TTL flash control of the 2 x AF240FT's. This rig does of course work with the K10D, but with manual flash control.

Whilst I already have 2 x AF360FGZ's which could be controlled wirelessly (if that's a real word), the AF240FT's make for a lighter rig and still has plenty of flash power.

As luck would have it, the Stofen Omnibounce diffusers from my AF360FGZ's fit the AF240FT's width and can easily be held in place with tape.

All I need now is a decent subject and the time to chase it