https://www.beelover.net/ Macro photography of native and solitary bees by Adli Wahid, Australia en-au Adli Wahid https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2024/ Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2024/ Bee Studio I’m very fortunate to have the male banded Amegilla roosting (read: sleeping) in the garden. What this means is that I have more time to set up the shot, including using leaves of different colours as backgrounds. My favourite shots are the Ceratina australensis (small carpenter bee), which is also nesting in the backyard, and the Coelioxys sp. https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2025/ Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2025/ https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2026/ Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2026/ https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2022/ Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2022/ The New Place 2022 was a special year for two reasons: I was back to doing international travel for work, and we moved to a new house. So the photos in this collection were taken from two different locations — or suburbs, really. I bought another manual focus lens, the Lester A. Dine 105mm f/2.8 (also known as the dentist lens), and ended up using it more than the Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/4. The main reason? The Lester Dine gives me 1:1 magnification without needing an extension tube. https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2023/ Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2023/ Colours of Life I planted portulaca flowers because they’re drought tolerant. Turns out they make a pretty colourful studio for the Lasioglossum (Homalictus) sp. My bee hotels were also getting different types of Megachile sp. Another happy moment: seeing my Dianella flower for the first time since I planted them. They’ve been pulling in more native bees especially the Lipotriches sp. , which has been great to watch. I ended up with another vintage macro lens, the Panagor PMC Auto Macro 90mm f/2.8. It is slightly lighter than the Lester Dine, and seems to be able to give me good results. https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2021/ Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2021/ New Discovery 2021 was the year things slowly came together — photographically speaking, that is. I got more comfortable with the gear and started experimenting with getting more than 1:1 magnification using the Raynox DCR-250 and the reverse lens technique. I also messed around a lot with flash and diffusers. Lots of hits and misses, but there were plenty of a-ha moments. A couple of highlights from the year. For the first time, I finally got to photograph male Amegilla sp. roosting at night. I also discovered a nesting site for the Lasioglossum (Homalictus) sp. right next to the house. https://www.beelover.net/articles/derivative-work/ Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/articles/derivative-work/ Beelover photos used by artists https://www.beelover.net/articles/references/ Sun, 07 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/articles/references/ My reading references https://www.beelover.net/articles/my-gear/ Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/articles/my-gear/ Close-up Photography Gear https://www.beelover.net/articles/photographing-bees-tips-and-techniques/ Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/articles/photographing-bees-tips-and-techniques/ Personal tips for photographing bees https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2019/ Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2019/ Photos from 2019 https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2020/ Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/galleries/2020/ The Lockdown Era Here are some photos I took in 2020, the year of the Covid-19 pandemic and global lockdowns. Thankfully, I had a backyard to escape to. This is what I wrote for an article on photography during 2020 for TheLovepost: The lockdown initially slowed down my photography activities, but that did not last long. While I couldn’t go out and about on the streets, I found an amazing, colourful world that I hadn’t noticed before right in my backyard. https://www.beelover.net/stories/bee-kisses/ Sun, 24 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/stories/bee-kisses/ Yesterday I posted a photo of a Lipotriches bee buzz-pollinating my tomatoes in the Bee Aware of Your Native Bees Facebook group. Dr Megan Halcroft picked up the photo and shared something really enlightening with the group. https://www.beelover.net/stories/powerful-pollinators-guide-seq-edition/ Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/stories/powerful-pollinators-guide-seq-edition/ In March this year (2023), I got a message from Dr Rachelle Wilson asking if I’d be interested in sharing a bee photo for a project she was working on. The project turned out to be a planting guide to support bees and other pollinators in South East Queensland. I shared two photos, and one was accepted — a Lasioglossum sp. pollinating an eggplant. Then in August, I got another email saying the guide is now available for download on the Wheen Bee Foundation website. https://www.beelover.net/about/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/about/ Hello! My name is Adli Wahid. I’m a bee lover and hobbyist photographer. 🙂 My interest in bee photography began after I photographed my first blue-banded bee in 2019. BeeLover.net is where I share photos of the bees I observe, along with field notes and articles about close-up photography. I also post some of my observations on iNaturalist. I’m not a bee researcher or identification expert, so some terms I use may be wrong. For scientific identification, please refer to my iNaturalist observations or check with a qualified expert. https://www.beelover.net/licensing/ Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.beelover.net/licensing/ All photographs on this site are © Adli Wahid. All rights reserved. Personal and educational use — You may share individual photos for non-commercial purposes with clear attribution (photographer name + link to this site). Academic and research use — Researchers wishing to use photographs in papers, theses, or scientific publications are welcome to do so with proper attribution. Please get in touch before publication so I can provide a higher-resolution file if needed.