I’ve always enjoyed observing and learning about bees, and with this next assignment to show the opposites of aperture, one frame wide open with a shallow depth of field and the other as deep as it would be deemed fitting. Thus, with a 70-200mm lens and an attached doubler, I set my 5D Mark II on a Manfrotto tripod and started shooting. The first one was as shallow as possible, isolating the entrance to the hive and stopping the bees in motion.
Location: Bainbridge Island, WA
Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark II with Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, attached Canon EF 2.0X III Telephoto Extender
400mm, 1/80 sec at f/5.6, ISO 1000, tripod mount, trigger fired.
Post: Adobe LR3 & Photoshop CS5
To create depth of field I closed the aperture to f/64 and set a Canon Speedlite 580EX II flash with a Gary Fong LightSphere Collapsible Diffuser onto the bee hive. With each pop, the bees were froze in motion, however the extended shutter speed capture more ambient light in the frame and began turning the bees into ghostly apparitions.
Location: Bainbridge Island, WA
Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark II with Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, attached Canon EF 2.0X III Telephoto Extender
400mm, 1 sec at f/64, ISO 200, tripod mount, trigger fired.
Post: Adobe LR3 & Photoshop CS5
Cameron Karsten's Imaginarium 
Awww, I’m beginning to love bees, too. i recently saw an article about the threat of their extinction and what that could mean for our food chain. It is not looking pretty. O.o
You could certainly use these photos to bring more awareness to their plight 🙂 You made them look awfully cute and people love furry creatures.