Humming Bird shots

[HL45]

CC if you like, I think they could be cropped a little better? These are basically 100% crops. Low light, ISO 1600 f/5.6 (wide open) 400mm 1/100 and 1/160

Might try using the flash next time to get more shutter speed and a crisper image?

Thanks for your replies

1.

untitled shoot-032 by mtw2118, on Flickr

2.

untitled shoot-029 by mtw2118, on Flickr

 

[SCraig]

Hummingbirds are cool. I shot a bunch of them last summer and am looking forward to their return this year.

Yours look a tiny bit soft around the eyes, probably from the crop, but otherwise very good.

My best shots came from using a SB-700 speedlight with high-speed flash synch. I put my camera and speedlight on a tripod, aimed it at their feeder, and triggered it from about 10' away with a wireless remote. The birds ignored the camera and tripod as long as I wasn't standing there. Even at 1/000 second with a strobe their wings were still blurred. Amazing how fast they move.

 

[HL45]

Thanks Scott, I'm gonna try that tomorrow. I've stayed away from the flash because I don't know the settings very well, It will be a learning process for me. Might have to break out the owners manual lol

 

[SCraig]

Thanks Scott, I'm gonna try that tomorrow. I've stayed away from the flash because I don't know the settings very well, It will be a learning process for me. Might have to break out the owners manual lol

It always is a learning process for me! I don't do flash well and just let the camera handle the details.

Virtually all of mine were shot with the same settings. 1/1000 second, shutter priority auto, ISO 800. The camera opened the aperture wide open to f/5.6 each time, and as I said I Was using high-speed flash synch and an SB-700 speedlight.

They are so fast that even at that speed I still got a tiny lack of sharpness that I attribute to motion blur. As soon as the flash fired (and in high-speed mode it will fire in pulses) they would dart to one side or the other.

Here's an example:

 

[MiFleur]

I love both of your shots, the green in the feather match the background which is gorgeous!
Even the twisted branch is cute, Well done!

 

[HL45]

Thanks MiFleur

Thanks again Scott! So the flash might spook them somewhat! Can't wait to set up and try this.

 

[hirejn]

Why such low light? You can control them into better light and get a cleaner image.

 

[HL45]

Why such low light? You can control them into better light and get a cleaner image.

100% cloudy and sunlight fading fast, shot right before sunset.

 

[TimothyJinx]

Great shots. Do you have a feeder nearby that you cropped out?

We recently put a feeder on our deck but we haven't seen any hummingbirds yet. I think it would be a lot of fun to try and get a few shots. Thanks for posting!

 

[HL45]

Great shots. Do you have a feeder nearby that you cropped out?

We recently put a feeder on our deck but we haven't seen any hummingbirds yet. I think it would be a lot of fun to try and get a few shots. Thanks for posting!

Thanks Timothy, Yes, two hummingbird feeders along side 4 other seed feeders. The fence behind the feeders is covered in honeysuckle and all the small birds seem to stage on the vines when coming or going to feed. So these two shots are above the feeder.

Feeder Shot Honeysuckle in the background


untitled shoot-056 by mtw2118, on Flickr

 

[SCraig]

Thanks MiFleur

Thanks again Scott! So the flash might spook them somewhat! Can't wait to set up and try this.

It's kind of odd. It spooks them but in the case of the ones I was shooting it didn't frighten them enough to fly away, just kind of jump to one side a few inches. Overall it didn't seem to bother them much, other than that little jump.