A Farewell to Hummers

sm4him · Sep 26, 2014

Last Friday morning, before all the wedding festivities began, I got a chance to sit out in the yard and get a few more hummer shots. I was really pleased with them; I knew as I took them they'd be some of my best hummer shots so far, but then with my niece's wedding and related stuff all weekend, I couldn't get them processed! THEN I saw Kris' hummingbird thread, and was reminded that he is just in a class all by himself!!

It seems to have been fortunate that I got some time that morning to take photos, because this past Monday morning, the temperature took a nose dive into the upper 40s (hey, that's pretty cold for us southerners, in SEPTEMBER!) and my resident hummers seem to have taken flight for warmer climes. Makes me wish *I* could take flight for a warmer clime for the winter!! I'm hoping to maybe get a few passersby as others migrate through, but mostly I'm just sad that my hummers are gone, reminding me that fall, and then winter, are upon us.

At least I have pictures to remember my sweet hummers--maybe that will help me survive until Spring!

1. At the feeder

Hummer by sm4him, on Flickr

2. Hover

Hummer 2 by sm4him, on Flickr

3. Strutting His Stuff

Preparing for Takeoff 2 by sm4him, on Flickr

4. Balancing Act

A Delicate Balance 2 by sm4him, on Flickr

5. Wing Spread

Hummer Wing Spread by sm4him, on Flickr

6. Hummer Battle: I was a little surprised to actually get a shot with both of them in the frame!
Incredible how fast these little guys are! I was shooting at 1/1000 here and the wings are nothing but a blur.

Hummer Battle by sm4him, on Flickr

You know the drill--C&C, general comments and witty banter are all welcome here!

dannylightning · Sep 26, 2014

Nice shots, The last one is pretty cool..

baturn · Sep 26, 2014

These are great, Sharon. Particularly the 3rd. I've shot them at 1/2000th and still got blurry wings.

JacaRanda · Sep 26, 2014

1, 2 & 3 are my favorites.

pjaye · Sep 26, 2014

Absolutely stunning, gorgeous pictures Sharon. I *love* that first one especially!

JacaRanda · Sep 26, 2014

Sharon,

Did you get a chance to see these? Long Time No See - Here are some Hummers | Photography Forum

Matthew is another guy that makes me sick

In a good way.

hamlet · Sep 26, 2014

Looks great.

cherry harrison · Sep 26, 2014

Beautiful captures

sm4him · Sep 26, 2014

Thanks, all! I really appreciate the comments!

baturn said:
These are great, Sharon. Particularly the 3rd. I've shot them at 1/2000th and still got blurry wings.

Yeah, those wings just move SO fast, it's amazing! I did shoot some at 1/2000, I think, but not sure if any of those got processed. It's that constant battle between fast shutter speed and keeping the ISO reasonable, you know?

symplybarb said:
Absolutely stunning, gorgeous pictures Sharon. I *love* that first one especially!

Thank you! The first is one of my favorites as well. Normally, I try not to show feeders and other manmade objects, but sometimes you can't avoid it, and somehow, with the hummers, I almost don't even mind. I shot some at a friend's house in Nashville recently, and I was going through them with her, I was mentally either picking the ones without the feeder or "cropping" the feeder out in my head, but the ones she wanted were the ones WITH the feeder, and I realized that in that case, the context of being at HER feeders is what made the pictures special to her.

sm4him · Sep 26, 2014

JacaRanda said:
Sharon,

Did you get a chance to see these? Long Time No See - Here are some Hummers | Photography Forum

Matthew is another guy that makes me sick In a good way.

Aaaaaannnnnddddd.............I quit.

I'm done. Anyone wanna buy some camera gear?

Kris and Matthew--and that Danny guy from New Zealand too, though he's not been around lately--they are just crazy good. It doesn't make me sick, it makes me HIGHLY jealous. LOL. And slightly depressed.

But see, here's the thing: They cheat. They HAVE to be cheating somehow. I don't know HOW they do it, but that's GOT to be the reason they get these absurdly awesome shots that blow the rest of OUR stuff out of the water. I mean, it can't just be that they are THAT much better than me, can it???

MystrE · Sep 26, 2014

Those are nice shots Sharon. I like the challenge of trying to get shots of hummingbirds and have spent the last 3 months working at it from the confines of my patio while recovering from serious neck surgery. I'm better than when I started and realize I still have a ways to go but the journey is a heck of a lot of fun! Who knows, maybe some of the hummers passing through here could have been up there earlier! All I know is we all will have something to look forward to next spring and summer when our friends come back for a visit; my feeders will be waiting for them.

snowbear · Sep 27, 2014

Hummer Battle nominated:
September POTM Nomination Thread | Page 2 | Photography Forum

Designer · Sep 27, 2014

sm4him said:
Aaaaaannnnnddddd.............I quit.

I'm done. Anyone wanna buy some camera gear?

That's not how it works.

That's not how any of this works.

You're just supposed to keep on practicing.

Raj_55555 · Sep 27, 2014

sm4him said:
But see, here's the thing: They cheat. They HAVE to be cheating somehow. I don't know HOW they do it, but that's GOT to be the reason they get these absurdly awesome shots that blow the rest of OUR stuff out of the water. I mean, it can't just be that they are THAT much better than me, can it???

Maybe they've figured out how to make a pet out of the hummers! :345:

You're jealous of them, and me of you.. if only my pics were half as good as you :blueface:

These are some real awesome shots,and the last one is just incredible. I'd have nominated it if it wasn't already nominated.

coastalconn · Sep 27, 2014

LOL, I never cheat

I think you did great Sharon. These little buggers are tough. Although the only time I photograph them is out in the wild. Maybe next year I will get a feeder...