One of Man's Best Friends - (view larger)

I have been looking back through my files, searching for the warm

days of summer and I happened upon many of the images I took in

Lakefield, Ontario where I enjoy visiting one of my favorite Antique

Shops. Across the road is a park near the access to the Ottonabee

River. A small park, nice and shady, but I happened upon a spot that

was sunny (very hot and humid) but it didn't seem to bother this

very 'busy bee'. Hard at work and covered in pollen, it was a joy to

see a 'fat' Bumble Bee. I don't see many of them in my garden

anymore. I love the Scottish Thistle, it's colour is so vibrant. It is also

known as the common Milk Thistle. (any visits and comments are

always welcomed with appreciation, sincerely, Gail)

What clarity and detail!  Both a beauty and a science pic for kids to learn and enjoy.  I love the textures.  

I'm glad you enjoyed this one Donna, many thanks for taking the time to comment and sharing your input. cheers for now, Gail

A really beautiful result with very nice colours and details, Gail!

 

Great macro Gail!!! Excellent focus, very nice details!!!

Best regards,

George

Superb capture of this busy one buried into the colorful flower.I like the sharpness on the bee and the tip of the pistilles against the nice blurry and fading background.Good one!

Meilleures salutations-Laurent

Hi Gail,

  Wonderful macro with beautiful colors & details.  Take care, Patsy

Simply beautiful, my friend

excellent in all respects

A great macro, you can see all of the polen and a little drop on the flower. The color is superb and the clarity is professional - in short words - classic Gail :).

 

Love, Ulla

Well seen colors and point of view!

Gail, Wonderful macro showing great detail, love the colors.  Great capture!   Warm Regards,  Sherry

Actually, I'm not seen them this year in my backyard. It always significant number hovering around in previous years.  Good capture as I already mention before.

Hi Gail,

A++. I am very pleased to see your use of the Canon 100mm macro at F/2.8.

The comments of clarity, sharpness, etc. demonstrate the value of using a quality lens at a wide open aperture , f/2.8 in this case.

The main star of the show is isolated and accented by the surroundings.

Well done my dear friend.

Warmest Regards,

Mike

Delightful, effective detailed and LOVELY shot! Colors are vivid and perfectly natural. Very impressive shot, as your other masterpieces. I liked the name, too. Bravo.

Hamid.

So little and so big, great creature doing his job. Wonderful, well done, amiga. 

Nice one Gail. Very pretty and shows good focusing skill with the bee sharp.

Many thanks to you both for your very kind and encouraging remarks. While I would have preferred seeing more of the 'bee's face', the location I was in would have meant me standing in a spot where falling into the 'canal' was quite possible. ;-) I do appreciate your visits and input!!!

Kind regards, Gail

I apologise for my delay in responding to your encouraging comments, I will try to catch up as soon as possible. In the meantime, my sincere thanks for your time and interest.

 

Most sincerely, Gail

It's always interesting to follow an artist and observe the development and transformation of her style over time. I've been checking out your work for quite a while now and it displays an increasing sureness in the way you present your images. At the start there seemed to be a lot more stylistic consideration which, while they were expertly done, sometimes seemed more design oriented. Now the image itself carries much more weight; the directness of your presentation here is very powerful with no superfluous additions or flourishes.I guess one of the most important features of this site is that it allows us to follow the artist's creative evolution over the years and I certainly enjoy following yours.

That has to be one of the nicest critiques (although you are such a good word smith and while you have followed my work, the critiques have always bee so 'wise'). There are times when my mind gets so 'full of life', things that creep in and seem to 'stifle' my urge to process images. I kind of hit a 'bump' in the road before this one. I had this image in a folder for quite some time and really did not think there was much in it I could use. I had hoped for a more interesting POV, but this 'tight bush of thistles' prevented me from that choice. But when I looked at this one after adjusting in Raw, I was, more than anything, caught up in the highlights on the back of the Bee. While the colour of the thistle helped, the Bee itself was my interest. I saw there was lack of detail in the pollen on the back legs and head, and that put me off at first, but I decided to go ahead and see what I could come up with. The light from the right hand side also attracted me. No matter what the direction, this Bee was still hard at work. Your comments will go in my Journal, kind, so helpful and encouraging. You SEE and summerize what I do not see myself. THANKYOU for your 'eyes' that inspire me to work even harder. I need to go through my Portfolio and weed out a few I think. I was so very unexperienced in processing the first few years, I can see so many places where I would do things so different now. Cheers my friend, Gail

I am so glad you were pleased with this image.this image. I do appreciate your encouraging comments which always remind me of the beautiful work you do, and of course, one day I hope to have the talents and skill you possess. My sincere thanks and regards, Gail

This is beautiful.

I am happy you enjoyed this composition, I appreciate your words of encouragement very much.

I always try very hard to do as you've taught and when I manage to hold steady enough, they often turn out quite well, it is good to get good marks from you!!! ;-) tnks Uncle Mike!