Fabulous Fotography Friday

I wanted to first take a moment to thank everyone who has visited and given me so many kind words and positive thoughts in comments over the last couple of months.  I even got a couple of new followers too.  Wowzer.  I’ll have to admit, having Lollipop Goldstein say I had a good post is like an amateur painter getting a thumbs up from Georgia O’Keefe.  After I read it, I was all red faced and thinking, “Shucks, Ma’am.  Twernt nuthin’ but some words what came outta my head.” Especially since I have been reading her awesome book this week (I’m on Chapter 4) while I’ve been sitting at the waterfront park.

Now let’s get to that Fotography, eh Photography.  As I mentioned in my prior post “Guess my number, win a prize” I was going to grab the ole Nikon and spend some of my less than 2 week wait taking and editing pictures.  I want folks to be able to use them for their computer desktop images or screensavers or whatever suits them.  So without further eloquence, I give you my first prize for guessing the correct number (click on the photo for full size).  To save this photo for your very own, just click on the picture.  A new window will open and show you the larger (higher-resolution) version, then right-click on the big image and choose “Save Picture As…” in Internet Explorer (“Save Image As…” in Firefox).

Earlier this week, I headed out into my back yard to sit in the sun and read. I noticed the bees were going crazy in my boysenberry bush.  It has hundreds of blossoms right now and there were dozens of busy bees, gathering nectar and helping pollinate my boysenberries. (Thanks ladies!)  There were at least 3 or 4 different types of honey and northwest native wild bees going at it with abandon.  I remembered my promised photo prize and was really excited.  I hopped inside and grabbed my Nikon.  I replaced my standard lens with a special macro lens that allows really REALLY good close-ups.  I sat on a chair, picked a blossom, twisted myself into a macro-photography/yoga position, set my exposure, f-stop and focused “the zone”.  Then I waited.  Those bees move really fast, but after about 20 shots, I went inside and browsed through my pics.  This one had the best angle for my little native bee.  She is is fuzzier than a honey bee and a tad bigger.  I think she’s gorgeous. 

I did a smidge of color sweetening/correction on the photograph, but it is otherwise untouched.  Her wings are really that iridescent, her little bottom a brighter shade of yellow.  The macro lens and a small f-stop creates a very small depth of field (that fuzzy background) and that Nikon macro lens has excellent bokeh.  I’m so excited. I’m off with my camera today to spend more of my 2WW.