Photographing Bees on a Late Summer Morning

Late summer and early autumn mornings are a terrific time to photograph bees and other insects. The trick is to get out just before sunrise.

On these chilly mornings, the bees are in a state of stasis giving you the opportunity to shoot close up using your macro lens. If you pick the right location with a lot of blooming goldenrod and flowers, you should be able to photograph several bees before the sun warms up the bees.

Tips for Photographing Bees and other Insects at Sunrise

Use a tripod and a remote shutter release. The dim light just prior to sunrise will result in long exposures.
Pick a morning with little wind or bring along a Wimberly Plamp to hold the branches steady. The movement of the branches from the wind can result in blurry photos in the dim light.

Use a macro lens to get close to the bee. Use extension tubes to get really close.
It’s all about the background. Make sure you have a clean, blurry background. Choose a composition without branches and grass close to the subject in the background.
Experiment with several apertures to balance how much of the subject is in focus vs. a blurry background. You can also use the wide aperture shows to replace the background of a photo with a smaller aperture.

Written by Martin Belan

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