Gray Bee Fly & Happy 4th

Critiques [Translate]

•  
• lawbert (0)
• [2008-07-04 9:42]

Hello Bob
I am no expert as well you know on identifying anything but I would have this fella down as some sort of Bee Fly...We have a similar thing in the UK and may have imported this one to you!!
Either Way its a very well taken picture and he sits out well on his glorious Yellow dining table.
A Happy Fourth of July to you Bob and a good weekend
Paul

•  
• sweet_universe (312)
• [2008-07-04 10:02]

Ciao Bob!
Wow! What a splendid shot and marvellous capture!!
It's so beautiful this pic! Excellent sharpness, POV, DOF and composition.
Congratulation.
Marco

•  
• azleader (903)
• [2008-07-04 10:17]

Good macro, nice bee... has a 4th feel to it. :)

•  
• LordPotty (9252)
• [2008-07-04 10:22]

Hi Bob,
I've got a lot of catching up to do ;)
This is a great post from you.
The little insect is very sharp.
I can't tell you exactly what it is yet,but it looks like some kind of hoverfly.
I'll do a bit of searching as well because I'm curious to know what it is too.
.... Oh,and happy independence day
.... (even though America has proved it can't be trusted to govern itself sensibly after all ;)
Cheers
Steve

•  
• Art_R (1995)
• [2008-07-04 10:23]

Hi Bob , this is a great composition , the flower is wonderful , colors and detail are very good to. I tend to agree with Paul on the fly idea , cant see the face to good , but the antenna look sort of fly.

TFS
regards
Art

•  
• red45 (26975)
• [2008-07-04 11:34]

Hi Bob!

Happy 4th of July!

Excellent yellow flower is good BG for this interesting fly. For me it looks like one of Bombylius specie. Sharp and good looking.

•  
• lousat (11326)
• [2008-07-04 11:53]

Hi Bob,i can't help you about the name of this insect,but i must give you my best compliments for this another wonderfull work,perfect under all therms of valutation,thanks for share,Luciano

•  
• nglen (22528)
• [2008-07-04 12:32]

Hi Bob A happy 4th of July to you and Jane my friend. A bit of macro work from you today showing us this little bug , with good detail and natural colours. a nice pose on the brightly coloured flower. welldone TFS.
Nick..
Have a nice Weekend.

•  
• gerbilratz (3176)
• [2008-07-04 15:07]
• [+]

Hi Bob, that Leica and you.. a match made in heaven... your control over it is impeccable... hand held as well!!.. yes, an excellent image, the colours are spot on,detail is spot on... it does look like a Bee fly, could be from the Asilidae family... not got one in my British bug Book.. so this must be a native American...

•  
• goldyrs (4844)
• [2008-07-04 19:41]

To ignorant me, it looks like a fly, which one I don't know!A superb shot!
We're one big world, Bob!You laugh, as do I, you cry, so do I!You've got your 9/11, I have my 7/11.The brass tacks of the marines may have come from India, my grandfather's car definately came from America!You fight inflation due to job losses, I fight inflation to to increasng demand!It's all the same!So what independence?That of sovereign States?But what of the individuals?Isn't this very independence dividing mankind even more?Earlier, there was just race, money and caste which divided, to which religion, education and money were added!Now we have so many other additions!And country seems to have become another!Why are we talking independence, when what all want is a global village?And that trade(read dependence) needs to be free?
Here is a poem by a renowned scholar from India, Rabndranath Tagore,(1861-1941), Indian poet,and philosopher.He was awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize in literature.


"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow
domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the
dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought
and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake."


Do we really have independence?Do we have freedom?
Goldy

•  
• Alex99 (15481)
• [2008-07-04 21:44]

Hi Bob.
I thinks this is something similar as Bee fly - Bombylius major Bombylius major. I'll be back with proper critique of this amazing shot.

Hi, dear Bob, again.
My warm greetings with 4th July and my compliments with this terrific close-up. Great clearness of the lights and colours. I like crisp sharpness of the insect and whole flower. POV and composition of the shot are brilliant too. Bravo. Outstanding work.
Alexei.

•  
• arfer (0)
• [2008-07-04 22:34]

Hello Bob

I can't help with the ID,but it is a very interesting looking bee.
Very good colour and contrast here.
The colours are vibrant and well saturated.
Nicely presented.
Lovely sharpness and focus,
TFS

Rob

•  
• Jamesp (15234)
• [2008-07-04 22:37]

Hi Bob

What a weird insect - great shot with excellent colours.

James

•  
• sranjan (1418)
• [2008-07-04 23:54]

Dear Bob,
Happy 4th to you too. This is beautiful macro of ? some higher dipteran fly ! Let's hope an entomologist to help us find ID :). TFS
Regards-Subhash

•  
• Janice (17794)
• [2008-07-05 3:20]

I think it must be some esoteric hoverfly - I do like the sound of that word!! And from the look of his grey hair I think he must be an old esoteric hoverfly. And He is dancing so prettily on the golden flower.

Good shot my friend, he has brightened my night up.

I had to look up the word 'esoteric' and I've picked out 'mysterious' to suit this hoverfly. Good night - we have thunder storms, rain and cold here tonight

Janice Zzzzzzzzz

•  
• Silvio2006 (26183)
• [2008-07-05 5:06]

Hi again Bob, happy 4th of July, I don't know id of this interesting strange little fly, splendid composition with wonderful yellow flower, good details and great sharpness, very well done, have a good week end, ciao Silvio

•  
• uleko (24911)
• [2008-07-05 8:38]
• [+]

Hello Bob,
I found it on the web. It is a Gray bee fly - Anastoechus melanohalteralis. I'm beginning to understand that you don't really like insects and spiders but this one is a bit like a little Bear, isn't it! And you've got a superb capture of it in the middle of the beautiful flower. Great focus and lovely colours in this fine composition!
TFS and best wishes, Ulla

•  
• joey (22002)
• [2008-07-05 10:34]

Hi Bob,
brilliant macro of this furry, fluffy little thing :-)
I love the bright yellow flower and it brings the photo to life!
Excellent composition.
Superb focusing.
Very sharp.
Happy 4th of July to you, Jane and every other American :-)

Cheers Bob,
Joe

•  
• CeltickRanger (7691)
• [2008-07-05 20:08]

hello Bob

excellent close-up shot, i love your POV on the bee and in
the same with the differnt pose of the flower's each petal,
beautiful luminosity and colours of the image,
excellent sharpness and details, TFS

Asbed

•  
• oscarromulus (4766)
• [2008-07-15 12:48]

Bob,
Great image.
I have a lot of difficulty registering yellow & white colours in my photography work.
Looks like you have "mastered" this act.
Warm regards to my American pal,
M. from C.A.C.

•  
• cicindela (7278)
• [2008-08-18 11:58]

Hello Bob!
Really I am watching this cute fly thanks to the link by Alexei who photographed another Bombylidae fly some time ago :)
This is a very interesting fly family as for me, because some of these species (American species especially!) parasite my favourite insect group - tiger beetles (really the larvae of these beetles). The most important parasites belongs to genus Anthrax, which I have never seen :(
Anyway, very nice composition and thanks for interesting creature!
Greetings,
Radomir