Spring is finally here! It’s time to get your macro lens to photograph bees.
This is the perfect time to re-visit an episode of The reDefine Show: Animal Edition! See it here:>>>Backyard Bees <<<
It’s all about photographing bees using a macro lens. I have always been nervous/terrified of bees while some people are all, like, One With The Bees. As for me, I am pretty much the exact opposite of that. I feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise up anytime I see a bee or hear a buzz nearby, so, to put on a beekeeper’s suit and walk into the same space as 70,000 bees? Well, it was a full-on personal challenge.
This is where photography comes into play because every time I photograph something or someone I am struck by how beautiful they are, in so many ways. I love that my job is to look for that beauty, which is one of the coolest parts of the work, and yet, I was surprised I still felt the same way during this shoot. These little fuzzy bees are intricately beautiful and hard-working and expressive, looking directly at you with head tilts, butts out, wings splayed out & more! My job was to photograph them as well as possible while speaking to what I was doing and using a variety of means to do so, and I got lost in it almost immediately. This was not just a wonderful shoot, it was personally transformative for me.
It’s amazing how spending time with that which you fear can change everything. Oh, and wearing a beekeeper’s outfit helps.
I’d LOVE to invite you to check out our first episode:
>>>Backyard Bees h<<<
Big gratitude to Miriam MJ Beckman & Rhesa Versola for the fantastic filming, Heather Guffee Burgiss for a beautiful edit and expert beekeeper Mark Powers for the excellent education.
All images shot with Nikon D850 & 105mm f2.8 macro and D500 and 24-70mm f2.8.
