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Something I’m really enjoying about macro photography is the opportunity to craft color and light. With my bird photography, I’m mostly at the mercy of the existing light. (At least so far. It’s possible to use flash for bird and wildlife photography, and I have the gear, but I haven’t done much with it yet.) But with macro — as you may have noticed — I’m using fluorescent lights, sunlight, reflectors, flash, and a softbox.

In yesterday’s photo of a honeybee, the flash, softbox, and a blurred background gave the whole scene a soft purplish hue. In today’s share, I use the same approach to get a yellowish tint. Both were taken in our garden, by the way. The honeybee picture was taken in the evening, the bumblebee picture the next morning.

Location: Silverton, Oregon

Exposure: 1/200 second, f/20, ISO 800

Focal Length: 105 mm

Gear:

• Camera: Nikon D850

• Lens: Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens