Essence of a hummingbird

[Steve S]

My favorite composition of a hummingbird................................

[Jim B.]

Steve,

Wow! Beautiful image.It's definitely a "gallery" shot.

[Donald]

My favorite composition of a hummingbird................................

I wonder why?

That is amazing! My compliments to you, Steve.

[carregwen]

Excellent shot, Steve. A very creative interpretation (not just a 'bird shot')

[Shadowman]

Beautiful colors.

[Dansk]

I'd love to hear the details of how you caught this little guy so perfectly! I can't imagine getting a picture like that, hummingbirds move so quickly that I'd never be able to get him in the frame and focus before he's gone!

[Steve S]

Steve,

Wow! Beautiful image.It's definitely a "gallery" shot.

Thanks jim, i have only gotten 3 images like this so far. Everything has to fall into place to get the shot.

[Steve S]

I wonder why?

That is amazing! My compliments to you, Steve.

Thank you donald, most appreciated!

[Steve S]

Excellent shot, Steve. A very creative interpretation (not just a 'bird shot')

Thank you rob, this is the only way i have shot them that doesn't look like a snapshot.

[Steve S]

Beautiful colors.

Thanks john

[Steve S]

I'd love to hear the details of how you caught this little guy so perfectly! I can't imagine getting a picture like that, hummingbirds move so quickly that I'd never be able to get him in the frame and focus before he's gone!

Kevin, my setup is sitting next to a feeder. The hard part is getting the bird to have it's back to you and then turning its head to the side. That is the composition that i like because of all the colors in the back feathers.(you also have to isolate the subject from the feeder).

The background is a row of pine trees about 10 yards behind the feeder.

The light is natural and coming from the side, illuminating the subject but not the background. (When you expose for the subject, the background gets darker) The dark background also creates another problem of slow shutter speeds. The close distance to the subject also adds to the problem with very shallow depth of field. An aperture of f/8 to f/13 is needed, which gives you even slower shutter speeds.

The focus is set to Alservo . In the camera menu, you can turn off the focus search. This will allow you to get your focus close manually and then the auto focus will take over for a very short range.

My distance to the feeder is about 10 feet.

Equipment is a canon 40D.......Canon 300 f/4L lens + 1.4TC..........Monopod

[Steve S]

I posted the other 2 before, but here are the 3 images i've gotten so far. Hope to get a few more..............






This one is still my favorite.........

[ScoutR]

Very Very nice - all of them. I like the dark background, it is very distinctive and sets your shots apart from some others I have seen.
Great work, they are so tiny and so fast, I know I'll be sticking to horses.

Wendy

[Dansk]

Kevin, my setup is sitting next to a feeder. The hard part is getting the bird to have it's back to you and then turning its head to the side. That is the composition that i like because of all the colors in the back feathers.(you also have to isolate the subject from the feeder).

The background is a row of pine trees about 10 yards behind the feeder.

The light is natural and coming from the side, illuminating the subject but not the background. (When you expose for the subject, the background gets darker) The dark background also creates another problem of slow shutter speeds. The close distance to the subject also adds to the problem with very shallow depth of field. An aperture of f/8 to f/13 is needed, which gives you even slower shutter speeds.

The focus is set to Alservo . In the camera menu, you can turn off the focus search. This will allow you to get your focus close manually and then the auto focus will take over for a very short range.

My distance to the feeder is about 10 feet.

Equipment is a canon 40D.......Canon 300 f/4L lens + 1.4TC..........Monopod

Amazing! Congratulations on those three shots, each of them is extraordinary!

I love hummingbirds, I saw quite a few of them when I was working as a gardener last year. (For any Canadians in the crowd, I worked at Rideau Hall.) I loved the noise they made as they went whizzing past my head, like oversized bumblebees. Fascinating birds!

[Eric M]

Wow, just wow... Beautiful work.

[PopsPhotos]

The only critter I've found harder to catch is the hover fly. I have one (1) so far.

Pops