Macro Close-Up

Dead Bee – San Francisco CA – 150804

This poor bee was laying dead on the floor of the architectural firm where I work. I think her wing broke and she died of exhaustion.

I placed her on the tree of an architectural model and used some paint samples in the background for composition.

Without wind blowing my scene all over the place, and with a static subject, I was able to experiment with different camera settings.

At the end f16 aperture turned out to be the best. I think each picture took about 3 seconds. 

This is a single shot, uncropped, taken with the camera mounted on a tripod with macro focusing rails.

I used a Flashpoint Wave Commander as a remote shutter release to prevent trigger motion.

I did’t use a flash for lighting, just conventional indoor ceiling mounted fluorescents and the diffused light of an LED flashlight.

I shoot with my Nikon D610 + Pixco adapter Sony A mount to Nikon F mount + Sony A mount Fotodiox Extension Tubes (7mm, 14mm & 28mm) + Fotodiox M42-AF(V.1) + AETNA Japan M42 Extension Tube (10mm, 20mm & 30mm) + generic Chinese metal M42 to Leica M39 step down ring adapter + Nikon EL-Nikkor 50mm f/4N.

This is by far my best macro lens setup I have assembled until now. It is cleaner than any reversed lens setup I have tried so far.