photographing bees and other fast flying things?

[stargirl23]

hi,  i'm having some difficulties capturing things in flight... mainly insects like bees.  i've got a Canon Rebel T-6.

the first picture would have been a great picture except the wasp that flew by unexpectedly turned out blurry.  any tips on photographing bees or wasps in flight?

the second picture would have been a great picture except when i used my flash to capture the hovering hoverfly, the flowers become washed out.

Canon EOS Rebel T6, f/9, 1/160 sec, ISO-100, focal length 55mm, no flash

Canon EOS Rebel T6, f/9, 1/160 sec, ISO-320, focal length 55mm, with flash

[ScottyP]

As for the washout I'd shoot in raw instead of jpg so you can maybe recover from blown highlights or under exposures better. As for the flash I would probably use a -1 stop of flash exposure compensation if shooting up close like that. 

When i shoot bugs or bees on flowers or other macro shots I usually use manual focus. Then I don't really twist the ring to fine tune focus, I just lean forward and back to focus. The depth of field is so shallow when you are that slide that AF is not reliable, at least not on a camera with a simpler AF than a 1dx or something. 

[cicopo]

You freeze action or movement with much higher shutter speeds than what you used. Takes a bit of trial & error to find the right range for specific things.

[ebiggs1]

"... i'm having some difficulties capturing things in flight."

First, all cameras, no matter how much they cost, have their limits.  A static flower and a fast moving bee are on opposite ends as you have noticed.  Some creative techniques need to be employed.

The bee just sitting on a flower doing its thing should not be any problem.  Pretty normal exposure.  A bee in flight over a static flower will be more difficult.  I have used flash to stop hummingbirds in flight but I am not concerned with the BG.

If I wanted the bottom shot you used for an example, I would shoot it twice and stack it in PS.  Do one shot for the bee and a second for the flower.  I would also try to do it with out flash.  Adding the flash just adds more issues to overcome if it really isn't required.  Kicking the SS up to 1/2000+ and ISO to 8000 may eliminate the need for two stacked shots.  However, I use PS all the time so the post editing needed is no problem. I find it easier to get two very different subjects together in one photo a snap with PS.

For that bottom shot try this first;

Canon EOS Rebel T6, f/9 f8, 1/160 1/2500 sec, ISO-320 8000, focal length 55mm, with flash no flash  

[RobertTheFat]

Anyone asking the OP's questions is too inexperienced to be fooling around with stacking.

[ebiggs1]

Robert,

Everyone starts from the begining.  Even thou ! 

Not exactly a bee on a flower but two vastly different exposures required.  Unless you stack.  It's not that hard to do. 

[Waddizzle]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

Robert,

Everyone starts from the begining.  Even thou ! 

Not exactly a bee on a flower but two vastly different exposures required.  Unless you stack.  It's not that hard to do. 

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Looks more like layer masks than image stacking to me.

[ebiggs1]

The technique used is a layer mask.  But it is two photos 'stacked' on top of each other.  Each one with its very different exposure settings and editing.  A layer mask can be used for many different things, stacking is just one of them.