Bee in flight

Flower Friday: Bee in flight

The cat mint flowers before the lavender, and sits in the same warm sunny bed in the garden.  The bees love both, and the combination means that this particular bed is good for bees for weeks on end. 

I've taken this shot with the usual macro flash system as well as an off camera flash and, while it is a bit of a pain to set up, I rather like the end results.  The pain involved in setting this up is partly the hassle of putting a flash onto a tripod and then working out where and how to site the tripod in the flower bed to give the best chance of being useful when its required.  There is then the usual fartnarkling with the settings to ensure that you get the right amount and blend of light for the anticipated shot.

Inevitably while you are going to all this trouble something really interesting happens nearby but you have to ignore that if you are going to get the planned shoot set up etc.  Obviously if I had a second camera body and suitable lens handy ....but that way lies the Poor House and Divorce.