Bee – On the Rocks

Since my wife’s name translates from the Hebrew as “the bee,” I’ve been taking quite a lot of pictures of bees… Mostly in our front yard. Using a D80 with a Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens, they’re fascinating little creatures to watch – and to photograph.

Given the close-focus distance involved, stopping the aperture down to f/16 or more gives me some better depth of field. At such apertures, however, not much ambient light gets to the sensor.

Adding a few Nikon SB-800s on lightstands and using Nikon’s CLS/AWL built-in wireless system lets me put lights exactly the right places.

By opening the aperture a bit, or closing it down, I can put my focus exactly where I want it.