Humming Birds

[jeffashman]

The biggest challenge for me with these guys, other than forgetting to change my camera settings, is that on a nice day, they show up only as sillouhettes. Today was a heavily overcast day due to storms in the area, but it let me get something other than the dark images. I would have loved if the last one with the Ruby Throated Hummingbird had turned out better, but it had gotten pretty dark by then, and the little thing was in motion.
1
aug17202106 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr
2
aug17202107 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr
3
aug17202108 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr
4 (had a challenge with the chromatic abberation)
aug17202109 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr
5
aug17202110 by Jeff Ashman, on Flickr

 

[Scott Whaley]

What were you shooting with? I hate it when my shutter speed is too slow.

 

[RVT1K]

The biggest challenge for me with these guys, other than forgetting to change my camera settings, is that on a nice day, they show up only as sillouhettes. Today was a heavily overcast day due to storms in the area, but it let me get something other than the dark images. I would have loved if the last one with the Ruby Throated Hummingbird had turned out better, but it had gotten pretty dark by then, and the little thing was in motion.


It sounds like you need to think more about where the light is coming from and positioning yourself differently. You may even need to move the feeder to give yourself the best potential for lighting and background. In a perfect world, the sun is behind you and the birds are facing you.

And while it can be difficult with hummingbirds since they are so small and fast, try spot metering and getting your metering point right on the bird.

 

[jeffashman]

What were you shooting with? I hate it when my shutter speed is too slow.

A camera... badump bump! Yeah, I forgot to change my shutter speed, except for the last one, but by then the sky had darkened quite a bit due to cloud cover. Had the thing set at 1/400 from an earlier session and forgot to change it. The last one was 1/1600.

The biggest challenge for me with these guys, other than forgetting to change my camera settings, is that on a nice day, they show up only as sillouhettes. Today was a heavily overcast day due to storms in the area, but it let me get something other than the dark images. I would have loved if the last one with the Ruby Throated Hummingbird had turned out better, but it had gotten pretty dark by then, and the little thing was in motion.


It sounds like you need to think more about where the light is coming from and positioning yourself differently. You may even need to move the feeder to give yourself the best potential for lighting and background. In a perfect world, the sun is behind you and the birds are facing you.

And while it can be difficult with hummingbirds since they are so small and fast, try spot metering and getting your metering point right on the bird.

It was an opportunity shot from my workstation window. Unfortunately, moving the feeder means not being able to watch them feeding. I've thought about putting up a light to illuminate this side of the feeder. Once I have a deck built, I may be able to change my positioning, but since I work, sitting outside waiting on the little dudes is not really something I can do, or would want to right now, because it's either raining or 100 degrees.

 

[K9Kirk]

Nice captures, Jeff. A little trouble but there's tomorrow to try again. I can't count the times I've forgotten to change the ss/settings. I'm assuming you're going to go out a little earlier for a another try.

 

[jeffashman]

Nice captures, Jeff. A little but there's tomorrow to try again. I can't count the times I've forgotten to change the ss/settings. I'm assuming you're going to go out a little earlier for a another try.

They show up when I'm already "at work." They just started showing up a couple of weeks ago, and I hadn't filled the feeder. I just use sugar water, and change it out every couple of days. They really seem to like it.

 

[K9Kirk]

They show up when I'm already "at work." They just started showing up a couple of weeks ago, and I hadn't filled the feeder. I just use sugar water, and change it out every couple of days. They really seem to like it.

Really wish we had some around here, they're beautiful.