Bee-utiful

After recent rains the garden is returning to life, plants that were being literally scorched by the sun are standing taller and there are lots of signs of Autumn and plenty of new growth about. I decided to venture out on this overcast morning to snap some of the early Autumnal bounty in the garden. I've been wanting to hit these blooms with a macro for a while knowing it would reveal detail to me not visible to my naked eye.

I took that first one on a manual camera setting I have been playing with after reading about it via a pinterest link. The second two are taken with Macro but heavily cropped. I don't believe there was any editing by me on that first image though I have been playing with these images for about an hour and I cant be sure now. I know the second and third are cropped only and were two sequential images; in the third he is wiping off the proboscis with his front legs.

I know the dried grass seeds in the images detract from what could be a splendid perfect bee/flower combo. Particularly in the first shot; I find the grass very distracting as it cuts through the image from top to bottom. Though I quite like the hanging angular seeds dipping into the following shots. While the grass may be absolutely unlovely to some it is the imperfect touch of nature that brings reality to my photos, I do hope these pics give you the opportunity to experience the beauty of a tiny little bee with its exquisite wing detail & fluffy thorax. Oh and how darling is each individual little bloom in that flower head!