A Walk by the Pond

[Martha]

I have a lot of admiration for those of you who take those great close-up shots of the bees and other wildlife. I tried to capture a shot of a bee on the honeysuckle but he was either too fast or hidden behind foilage. After many tries, I did manage to get a well-focused spider atop a daisy. The breeze really makes it harder.
Maybe some day I'll get a better camera than my Olympus C 4000 Zoom with 3X Optical zoom.
I made a montage (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/gallery/view_img.php?id=20917)of some of the shots .

This (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/gallery/view_img.php?id=20918)is a picture of the honeysuckle-it was so fragrant today that I thought surely there would be butterflies and bees galore! One lone bee!
Martha

[willpresley]

I can almost smell the honeysuckle -- it doesn't grow in Iowa that I know of. Used to smell it often when I was driving at night in Tennessee.

[Chuck S.]

Honeysuckle is non-native to the US, with most being the Japanese variety introduced in the US reportedly in 1806. It's considered an invasive species by many agencies and organizations, because it spreads quickly and out-competes native plants and shrubs for space in forest ecosystems.

Having said that, I love the fragrance of it, and it brings back memories of my childhood in suburban Philadelphia.

Beautiful photo!

[Martha]

Thanks Will and Chuck. Glad you enjoyed the photos. I didn't know that about honeysuckle. Learn something new every day! It has too much competition with all the trees to take over, I guess. Earlier in the year we had a little pink honeysuckle and one patch of red. I love the smell!
Martha

[BillBarber]

Nice job on the honesuckle Martha. It always reminds me of my childhood days growing up in SW VA.

[quillabee9]

You know it's springtime. And i have a hard time keeping honeysuckle going here in the Willamette Valley. I seem to remember somehow getting the nectar out and sucking on it. That was about the third grade in Ft Eustis, VA (near Newport News/ Williamsburg, etc).

[SenorSlick]

Martha, That is excellent. Harvey

[Martha]

Thank you Bill and Harvey.
Gail, I'm not very far from Williamsburg-an hour and a half or so (depending on which roads we use). I used to do the same thing as a child!
Martha

[ronstelzy]

Martha,
I love the glass effect; will try it soon. Got a nice bee today with camera on tripod and ball head very loose so you can scan the area without taking your eye off the viewfinder. Try both autofocus and manual focus to see which works best for you. And if you're really interested in closeup photography, invest in a good macro lens. If all else fails, spray your flowers with some aerosol adhesive, sit back and shoot away. LOL

[annc]

Wow, I love it, and the stained glass background really sets it off.

[Martha]

Thank you Ron and Ann.
Ron, I just need to get better with a digital camera. And I've not much experience photographing critters (except for my cats). All I've used is automatic but my son-in-law does a lot of photography for the newspapwes-mostly sports. I need to get him to help me.
Martha