Maximilian

Maximilian was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire. He entered into a deal with the famous Napoleon III of France to invade, conquer, and rule Mexico.  But that’s not the Maximilian I wanted to showcase.  It’s the Maximilian Sunflower that is the subject of this post. Fortunately, this flower was not named after a dictator but after the naturalist Prince Maximilian of Germany, who led an expedition into the American West in the 1830’s.

I mentioned in a couple of posts last week that I went mountain biking with a friend of mine at Walnut Creek Park in order to photograph Texas Wildflowers. As we traversed the park, I could not help but notice the large amount of Maximilian Sunflowers. I was particularly interested in a large amount of insects that gathered around the flowers.  I was lucky enough to capture this bee serving as a pollinator while gathering his daily nutrition.

I thought it would be beneficial to zoom into an image of the bee so you can see the detail.

This image was taken with my Canon EOS 5D Mark III using my Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro Lens. The camera was set on Aperture Priority mode with the aperture set at f/5.6, shutter speed at 1/500th of a second and the ISO set at 100. I had the benefit of a very bright sun so I did not have to use a flash. I could have probably used a smaller aperture to improve my depth of field but I was focused (no pun intended) on the bee and making sure it was in focus. Plus, the Bokeh turned out well as a result of the larger aperture. I used a tripod for stability. All processing was done in Lightroom.

Click on the image to get a better look at this image. Also, you can access the portfolio for this post by clicking here. Please use the section below to post your comments, questions or suggestions.

© 2015 T. Kahler Photography