Two Oregon wildlife photographers will have their pictures of honeybees featured in the new Protect Pollinators Forever postage stamps scheduled to be released this week.
The stamps are designed to pay tribute to pollinating insects. Studies show native bees and butterflies are at risk from pesticide exposure and habitat loss.
The series features five photos of honeybees and monarch butterflies on various flowers.
Two of the five stamps in the series showcase images of honeybees by photographers Michael Durham of Portland and George Lepp of Bend.
Durham, 52, spent hours taking hundreds of pictures using custom lighting and a 100mm macro lens to capture the image of a honeybee on a purple aster flower in his wife’s garden.
“I love the fact that this image got chosen by the post office,” he said. “You get some bragging rights, right?”
In his 27 years as a photographer, Durham has documented wildlife for the Oregon Zoo and the National Park Service, and his photos have been published by many outlets including National Geographic and National Wildlife Magazine.
Another stamp in the new series features a photo of a honeybee on a yellow ragwort flower taken by Bend resident George Lepp.
He was surprised to hear that the post office had chosen a photo he shot on film more than 15 years ago. While technology has changed dramatically since the photo was taken, he said, having this image chosen by the Postal Service proves that older photography is still viable.
“This is the kind of photography I’ve done all this time, and am still doing,” he said. “I’m doing it differently now and digitally, using different techniques, but the idea is the same.”
Lepp, 72, has worked as a stock photographer for 45 years.
The stamps were be dedicated on Wednesday at the American Philatelic Society National Summer Convention Stamp Show in Richmond, Va.
