close-up pictures of bees by josh forwood expose how different they all are

during quarantine, bristol-based documentary camera and drone operator josh forwood built a bee hotel in his backyard with the aim of helping these crucial-to-our-ecosystem animals thrive. these structures offer a home for solitary bees — 90% of the total bee population — as urbanization has destroyed their own. following a month-long trip, the photographer came back to a sold-out structure with residents buzzing in and out. 

images by josh forwood

‘to keep my sanity during post-shoot quarantine I took on a little personal project, shooting portraits of my bee guests,’ said josh forwood on a facebook post. ‘the beauty and diversity in these fascinating animals mean they are always a fascinating subject to film and photograph.’

the result is a highly detailed series of close-up portraits of bees that showcase how very different they all look. the pictures were taken using a panasonic GH5s, a 100mm canon macro lens and a field monitor, as stated by petapixel. some of the portraits are single exposures, while others are focus stacked with multiple exposures for a greater depth of field, they continue. the pictures were also taken with natural light as the photographer says that using artificial light is not viable because of the unpredictable nature of the subject.

‘solitary bees are more effective pollinators than even honey bees as they don’t use pollen sacks on their legs to store the pollen securely,’ forwood explained. ‘as a result (as you can see in some of these photos), they get covered in pollen making it more likely to transfer to different plants as they feed.’

project info:

name: close-up bee photography

photographer: josh forwood

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