Hoplitis fulgida, highlights, male, back

Hoplitis fulgida (fulgid is Latin for bling). This is one of our early shots, taken of a bee from Grand Teton National Park. It is a terrible specimen in many ways, not symmetrically arrayed, a bit crumpled, probably why I had ignored it. However, a closer look makes me appreciate its crumpledness, in a way it honors the deadness of the specimen without hiding its beauty. Two versions, one with some of the original highlights in the photo (slightly enhanced) Photo by Sierra Williams (now getting a Chemistry Degree on the west Coast!). Photography Information: Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200, USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture.