Macro photography has always fascinated me. Capturing a larger-than-life image of a bee, spider, or wasp may not be as exciting as sneaking up on a moose or a polar bear but it’s still pretty exciting. Like big game hunting you need to scout out the terrain and habitat and patiently wait for opportunities to unfold. So when the peonies started popping, it looked like the perfect opportunity, so I grabbed the macro lens and went wasp hunting. Here are a few images from the insect expedition.
Many people have an unnatural fear of bees, wasps, spiders and snakes, while others spend their youth catching them in jars. I remember one summer afternoon, Sammy, Davey and I were down at the end of the block at Old Man Sandberg’s orchard. He kept bees to pollinate the trees so there were always tons of them flying around. Sammy was older than Davey and I, and told us that if we held our breath when we grabbed a bee, it couldn’t sting us.
I was pretty gullible back then, (about 6 or 7 years old) so I gave it a shot. Sure enough, I picked three or four bees off the dandelions without being stung and deposited them in the jar, where they buzzed angrily. I’m not sure if it was the bees angry buzzing in the jar, or if it was just Davey’s bad luck but when he held his breath and snatched a bee off a flower it stung the shit out of him. He started crying and screaming that he was allergic to bees and the last time he got stung he went into anaphylactic shock.
Sammy was already headed down the street chuckling to himself, leaving me to figure out how to get Davey home before his throat swole up and he suffocated. His luck improved, and he survived but I don’t reckon he ever tried catching bees with his fingers again, I know I didn’t. I have spent a significant amount of time attempting to hunt them with the camera though, and it can be pretty challenging with the narrow depth of field.
Great pictures and very entertaining read.