For those of us who do not see very well—this might be a little better.
Mr. Hummer:
Mrs. Hummer:
This one is more difficult to see, but I thought the lighting was cool—at least it is on my monitor. 🙂
For those of us who do not see very well—this might be a little better.
Mr. Hummer:
Mrs. Hummer:
This one is more difficult to see, but I thought the lighting was cool—at least it is on my monitor. 🙂
Oh my god that first one is so good! I’ve only got a humming bird once and I was just happy I could tell what it is! Yours puts mine to shame.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3190/2787134829_4f5cf910cc.jpg
Thanks Lies! I think your photo is great—you were able to capture the hummer’s beautiful colors.
I CAN SEE!!! Wow Carole! You got hummingbirds perfectly and I can’t even get Bailey clearly yet. 🙂
Wow, Fantastic Shots!
I feed the hummers in the summer, if the feeders run out of food, they’ll fly right up to the sliding glass door and stare into the house, and even follow us as we move from room to room. They are such intelligent birds.
I know the first is a male ruby-throated, and the second & fourth are Ruby-throated females. Is the third an immature or a female under different lighting? I know they breed early summer here in northern Michigan, but don’t know if they have two broods a year.
Garth, you know your birds! All are Ruby-throated hummers. The last three photos are the female. She had a habit of ducking into the shadows!
I was in my garden weeding and had a bug that kept buzzing around my left ear. I kept swatting it away with my hand and when I hit it I realized that did not feel like a “bug.” I was horrified that I might have hurt a hummingbird, but thankfully she seemed ok as she was trying for ear. She wasn’t going to give up and I was not going to risk hurting her so I went inside.
At least you have a vet in the family! I can just see it now—you rushing a little hummingbird to Mos for medical attention. Julie, I am seeing a good excuse for not weeding the garden! 😉
WOW!!! Absolutely fabulous! Were you using a monopod? Come on share the back story!
nope—all shot freehand. Now if you believe that, I’ll sell you some swampland! 🙂
Julie, you are right. For the hummer, I pulled out the monopod! I have not been using it for my other photos, but I knew that there was no chance in hell of me capturing a little bird without using the monopod. My eyes aren’t good enough, my hands aren’t steady enough, and my lens has NO VR!
However, I took my best photo in Manual mode. The first shot was at 1/800s at f/5.6, iso 360, with Auto focus. I have one photo that I had taken prior to this one, same settings that is probably just as good, just a different position.
My lens was going nuts trying to maintain focus on these little birds. I had several shots that were missed due to the camera losing focus at the last second. (Any help with that?)
I was concerned that I wouldn’t capture the wings good enough, so I switched to Shutter priority. Yet, when I did that, I started having problems with lighting and f/stops, and had to lower shutter speed down to 400. I should have been able to keep a high shutter speed and the camera should have done the rest.
Second photo – Shutter priority, 1/400s at f/5.6 iso 280. Third photo all the same, but iso 400.
Fourth photo – Manual mode, 1/800s at f/5.6, iso 400.
That is probably more info than you wanted, but maybe someone here can help me work out my problems.
That is just what I wanted thank you!
I would have focused manually on something static in the area where I want to shoot my subject, kept my f/stop a little higher to give more range to my focus.
Having some motion to the wings is a good thing IMHO.
Thank you, Julie. I will give your advice a try.
I did set up manually a few times on something static. Then the hummer would appear in a different location, and would change everything. Waiting for a hummer to land in the perfect spot is like watching paint dry—or finally getting that “hit” on your surf rod! Lies’ brother would know about that last part!
I like having some motion to the wings, but I also wanted the challenge of freezing the wings—just for the practice.
Thanks for the beautiful photographs and the information on settings. I am in awe at the clarity you have captured. I am trying to get used to my new Canon 5D and am taking oodles of shots of the same subject trying out various speeds, stopping up/down, etc and deleting the majority. Thank goodness for digital!!!
WoW!!! Now that’s a real Hummer!
Thanks.
Bernard
Saw the little fellow first photo this time! Just beautiful. Julie H
I am having a hectic day. Looking at these beautiful photos is just what I needed to get myself in a more tranquil, productive state of mind. Thanks for sharing these photos and for the back story on the technical aspects. I like your tips, Julie.
Margot, I’ve been thinking about you and hope you are well. Need tranquility? Go take some pix of the most handsome boy and post them to the blog. We are all ready for more of the series!
The third one looks like a still from the discovery channel! Nice pictures. 🙂
First and fourth photo really capture the wings well, it looks like 1/800s is the minimum speed for that, and the focus is really good on the first considering you’ve such short depth of field.
I grew up in an Audubon family, we never went on vacation without our Peterson Field Guide. I haven’t been an active birder in decades, but spend lots of time out on the rivers in my canoe, so I get to enjoy some wonderful wildlife viewing on the rivers.
I am using the D80, with a crappy 70-300mm Sigma DG lens. So far I have found that the best focus is around f/5.6. So far using higher f/stops has not produced great results—very frustrating.
My Peterson Field Guide that was filled with notes on some great bird sitings is at the bottom of Blue Springs Creek—canoe trip gone wild! Managed to rescue Nikon camera, but it was never the same after the brackish-water bath!
I love these !! I love the Peterson guide too these could in the Audubon
Carole- I love all the recent Hummer photos!
Hummingbirds are my favorite! Like Garth,
we put out a feeder alongside hanging flower baskets every year and enjoy the show. They come back every year without fail. Your photos are really getting me into the hummingbird mood….
Thank you, Kimberly. When I first moved here, I put up the feeders until I figured out that the hummingbirds preferred the aloe blossoms. The hummers and the blossoms will be here until late fall.
I guess they go south for the winter. Which brings up the question—just how far does that little bird travel?