Here is a story I sent to Birds & Blooms on winter hummers

auntiephoto · Jan 28, 2011

OMG! Beautiful pictures. I live in Massachusetts and am only able to take pics in the summer. I'm an amateur photographer and hopefully, someday will be able to take pics like yours. Any tips? Do you have to spend a lot of time editing?

R.D. · Jan 30, 2011

wow!.. I don't know what else to say, these captured everything! I really love the colors that were brought out, especially the male who was guarding his feeder!

jack58 · Jan 30, 2011

jack58 said:
Yet a couple more... This Male Anna Hummingbird was shot at just as the sun was going down (for the wing glow) at a winter blooming honeysuckle bush.

Adding to the above pictures as I almost didn't see this shot of this Anna catching an insect. Normally they open their beak wide, and still may have, as I may have caught this at the very beginning. This shot was NOT planned as everything happens in split seconds with these hummers.

Apparently it is a rare shot to get on film and both Birds & Bloom / Smithsonian magazine has express interest in featuring it somewhere in their magazine.

R.D. · Jan 30, 2011

Adding to the above pictures as I almost didn't see this shot of this Anna catching an insect. Normally they open their beak wide, and still may have, as I may have caught this at the very beginning. Apparently it is a rare shot to get on film and both Birds & Bloom / Smithsonian magazine has express interest in featuring it somewhere in their magazine.

Congrats.. that is quite a treat of a picture. For those who don't shoot much specifically birds it may be harder to appreciate the difficulty or talent involved, not so with this one. Perhaps one of the most intriguing hummer shots I've seen on the web.

FoggyLens · Feb 8, 2011

Love them! Nice work!

Ginu · Feb 12, 2011

Amazing shots, very well done.

Any chance you can share the secret in setting something like this? Just curious in the camera, lens, flashes and setup for these fast hummers.

jack58 · Feb 12, 2011

Ginu said:
Amazing shots, very well done.

Any chance you can share the secret in setting something like this? Just curious in the camera, lens, flashes and setup for these fast hummers.

I used a Nikon D300 w/Nikkor 70-300 VR w/SB800
setting such as this:
f/5.3 (to throw background out of focus)
1/250 sec (flash set -2/3)
ISO 800 (to control how much f stop to use)
Spot meter (to get precise metering)
A mono-pod or tri-pod is important as any movement scares the hummers... you must be ready when they come.

Time of the day helps... and I chose late afternoon to dusk to get the sun back-lite wings.

The real secret is to know where they're going to be and to be waiting for them.
In my case, sometimes I have to wait a couple hours just to get the shot I want.
This particular time was about a hour wait...
It's called patience. kinda like bow hunting, only with a camera.

As for the hummer catching the bug... that is pure luck of the draw.

Loose Canon · Feb 12, 2011

Stunning!

Ginu · Feb 12, 2011

jack58 said:
Ginu said:

Amazing shots, very well done.

Any chance you can share the secret in setting something like this? Just curious in the camera, lens, flashes and setup for these fast hummers.

Click to expand...

I used a Nikon D300 w/Nikkor 70-300 VR w/SB800
setting such as this:
f/5.3 (to throw background out of focus)
1/250 sec (flash set -2/3)
ISO 800 (to control how much f stop to use)
Spot meter (to get precise metering)

Time of the day helps... and I chose late afternoon to dusk to get the sun back-lite wings.

The real secret is to know where they're going to be and to be waiting for them.
In my case, sometimes I have to wait a couple hours just to get the shot I want.
This particular time was about a hour wait...
It's called patience. kinda like bow hunting, only with a camera.

As for the hummer catching the bug... that is pure luck of the draw.

Very well captured and yes I figured patience would be the key here and the use of a tripod. Also have to say the setup with the headlamps is just brilliant, I'm sure the little hummers enjoy the heat. I have to do a little searching to find places with humming birds. So far I think I've seen them once or twice while camping out in Kelowna.