Male Valley Carpenter Bees:

[TomMills23]

In the spring and summer these Valley Carpenter Bees visit our So. California yard. The males are bright yellow/orange and the females are jet-black. When trying to attract females, the males tend to fly in a fairly regular but hectic pattern in and around a food source. I drive myself fairly mad trying to get shots of them in flight. - occasionally with success. These in-flight shots were taken with my Nikon D500 and Sigma 150-600mm lens. The still shots with a 105mm macro lens and diffused flash:

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[Bill M]

Love the detail and focus in the first shot.

 

[Andrew Lamberson]

All of them are excellent! Getting shots in flight has got to be the ultimate challenge!! Yours are A+. What shutter speed did you have to use?

 

[Woody Meristem]

Very, very good photographs. I've never tried to photograph a flying bee, now you've got me tempted -- will have to wait until spring.

 

[TomMills23]

All of them are excellent! Getting shots in flight has got to be the ultimate challenge!! Yours are A+. What shutter speed did you have to use?

Thanks Andrew. I believe these were shot around 1/1000 - 1/1600 or so. Unfortunately, the area where he was flying was fairly shady. You can see the high noise/ISO in the 2nd flight shot above due to the poor lighting. I generally shoot in manual with auto ISO.

 

[Bigmo]

Very nice.

 

[ElenaH]

excellent shots, @TomMills23 ! especially bees in flight!