Help needed: Tracking bees in flight

[Bruno Schroder]

Hi Frank,

Have you already found fotoopa on the web?

He built his own very sophisticated rig which is certainly not easy to replicate but I remember having read detailed descriptions of the problems he encountered when trying to shoot insects in flight and why he chose to do his set up this way. The shutter lag discussion was what convinced me that wasting shutter clicks is, for me, the only way to go

http://gizmodo.com/5464119/make-your-own-rig-for-ultra-high-speed-photography
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/collections/72157616371829502/
http://nikonrumors.com/2011/05/24/fotoopas-unbelievable-custom-rig-for-capturing-insects-in-flight.aspx/ for an ld version of his rig

[Frank Fremerey]

This is really really a way way cool setup! Thank you.

But this is nothing for me also. The results have such a "textbook feel"

I do not want to use flash and I do not want to freeze the insects. I want to keep the light situation as natural as possible and I want to create a feel to be "in the scene" to live and fly with the insects. Wait, I get a shot that explains the emotional quality I want to achieve. It is somewhere in the archive.

I want to track her flying though the bush.

[ColinM]

Hi Frank, just found you from your other bee thread. Ok I'm starting to understand more (info is spread between the two threads!)

No more advice, but I wanted to echo and support your signature.
Here in the UK the Govt has applied the EU restriction on neonicotnoids and some farmers are complaining. I'm in favour, based what I believe to be important researching linking these pesticides with loss of bees. Maybe we'll keep this discussion on a separate thread.

Good luck with your search and I'm glad that part of your reward comes back to you in honey

[Erik Lund]

I find it highly difficult to follow these bees in the different threads that keeps popping up...  Maybe one thread is enough...

So again:

Depth of field with these sharp lenses is not what counts, depth of focus is much more important and as stated the eyes as always...

Your way to low in shutter speed IMHO so I would go into various kinds of illumination, LED panels large softbox I suggest again, they simply can't know if there is one or two suns...

[Erik Lund]

Hi Frank,

Have you already found fotoopa on the web?

He built his own very sophisticated rig which is certainly not easy to replicate but I remember having read detailed descriptions of the problems he encountered when trying to shoot insects in flight and why he chose to do his set up this way. The shutter lag discussion was what convinced me that wasting shutter clicks is, for me, the only way to go

http://gizmodo.com/5464119/make-your-own-rig-for-ultra-high-speed-photography
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fotoopa_hs/collections/72157616371829502/
http://nikonrumors.com/2011/05/24/fotoopas-unbelievable-custom-rig-for-capturing-insects-in-flight.aspx/ for an ld version of his rig

I was looking for this, I remembered it only vaguely, Thanks for posting!

This is how it's done! Some outstanding captures!

[Michael Erlewine]

I am afraid that I am just old-fashioned when it comes to flying insects. I use a tripod, sometimes a gimbal. I use auto-focus and usually (since I have very few auto-focus lenses) the Nikkor AF-S 105mm VR f/2.8G IF-ED lens. I waste frames and I try to get as much DOF as the situation can bear, which means higher apertures.

[Frank Fremerey]

Michael: This is really helpful and the result is just what I am aiming at. I just like to have less crop and less noise and less sharpening artifacts.

Do you add artificial light in the process?

[Michael Erlewine]

Nikon 105mm Macro, ISO 400, f/11, 500 sec

I don’t use flash. Sometimes, indoors, in winter I use LED panels or fiber optics for highlights.

[Frank Fremerey]

F=11 is what I use too. So I need to practice more and waste more film and probably add a LED panel to my system

[Michael Erlewine]

F=11 is what I use too. So I need to practice more and waste more film and probably add a LED panel to my system

I said I may use a small LED panel indoors, in winter, for still life. No bees flying around in there. Outside, where the bees are, I use no light except sunshine.

Nikon 105mm Macro, ISO 400, f/11, 800 sec

[Frank Fremerey]

Michael. Funny sucker animal down there! Do you know its name?

Seeing you pics I dared to add a little sharpening to this one (1/4 the original size):

[Michael Erlewine]

Michael. Funny sucker animal down there! Do you know its name?

One of the "bee flies"  Nice shot, yours.

[Frank Fremerey]

One of the "bee flies"  Nice shot, yours.

You sure it is a fly and not a "bug" (German "Wanze"): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heteroptera

I love it if the gradients are smooth. That is what I love about your pictures in general: There is no "doctored" or "artificial" feel to them although your process of preparation includes lots of software steps.