“Busy Bee” by Linda Mirro—an impressive picture of a bee actively helping with pollination of a Tuscany Falls saguaro blossom; photo was taken with a Nikon D500, 600mm lens (equivalent), ISO 125, F10, 1/400 sec.
Lynn Warren
The photo of the month for July is a beautiful capture of a bee working at a saguaro blossom by club member Linda Mirro. Although hikers see saguaros on most of their hikes around the valley, this particular saguaro was in Tuscany Falls. Timing can vary but normally saguaros tend to bloom in May and develop fruit in June, soon followed by white-wing doves who love the tasty fruit. In this case, the bee was there early helping with the pollination process. The image has excellent composition since the orientation of the bee and flower tend to draw the viewer’s eye into the picture; the bee and outer petals are in sharp focus and the background is soft, creating a pleasing bokeh. This may look like a simple snapshot but it required patience. After experimenting with shutter speed, the right balance of depth-of-field and shutter speed to freeze the motion of the bee, it took approximately 50 shots to get the bee in the correct position. For information about the Camera Club, visit the club website at pebblecreekcameraclub.com or email Keith Cunningham at khcunning@hotmail.com.