My very first and only Hummingbird shot... now i am hot... lol

[Photo Lady]

 

[Photo Lady]

He is so cute .... the little devil...unfortunatly i had just turned flash off when he sat here..

 

[vtf]

One thing to keep in mind when photographing hummingbirds, that you will need to take a whole lot of photos to get some 'keepers". We subscribe to the bi-monthly magazine "Birds & Blooms" who feature hummingbirds several times a year, including the current issue. They often provide suggestions from photographers on shooting hummingbirds, and one thing that always pops up is you need to shoot hundreds of photos to get a few keepers. When you think of it, these little two inch critters are zipping around all the time, and trying to get a properly composed let alone focused image is quite a challenge. I've been trying to photograph them for several years, and our local season is fairly short. For the longest time we'd only have one female bird hang around the wife's garden and our feeder, so I didn't have too many chances. We were blessed this year with up to four of them, three males and one female. Now to see if they stick around for me!

I've given up on trying to use autofocus on my 75-300mm zoom, it just focuses too slow, and if the bird moves out of the central focusing point, the camera often tries to focus on what's way behind the critter. And manual focusing isn't all that great either, as they rarely keep still for me. Having plants they like around helps, and I shot quite a few birds around some bee balm flowers my wife planted. These have mulltiple trumpet blossoms which keep the birds interested, but they also zip from one blossom to the other, making it difficult.

Here's one from a few years ago showing its little feet that you are interested in:

I needed to use my auxiliary flash for this one, shot at 1/1250, f/5.6 and ISO 100, at 300mm. Without the flash most of the bird would have been in shadow. As I mentioned previously, my Canon 430EX flash can be set at high speed synch, allowing it to fire at higher shutter speeds.

Can't wait until this season really gets started, want to try out my Sigma 170-500mm lens on the wee ones!

First i want to say you are very kind to add your advice and wisdom and experience and patience... you must be right.. i just cannot get a couple of pics.i need a card full.. . although he is a flighty little thing and leaves me hanging there waiting for his return at 20 min. intervals.. and then if he sees me... {i know alot of them are brave and daring} this guy really hangs back and puts on the waiting game.. so cute.. and lately he is my only visitor but at least he is reliable and i am getting to know his personality..he certainly does not make it easy..but that in itself is the challenge.. your photo is magnificient.. what a shot.. and i think i should change my spot to a more of a floral setting. i have gardens all around i just hung the feeder here for my convienence.. that it not always smart.. i hope you show me your photos when you use your new lens.. i appreciate the way you explained everything too.. now i am going for it again tonight with new ambition..thanks

Nice shot.
The flower is a Bee Balm I believe. We have them in our front yard.

 

[Photo Lady]

One thing to keep in mind when photographing hummingbirds, that you will need to take a whole lot of photos to get some 'keepers". We subscribe to the bi-monthly magazine "Birds & Blooms" who feature hummingbirds several times a year, including the current issue. They often provide suggestions from photographers on shooting hummingbirds, and one thing that always pops up is you need to shoot hundreds of photos to get a few keepers. When you think of it, these little two inch critters are zipping around all the time, and trying to get a properly composed let alone focused image is quite a challenge. I've been trying to photograph them for several years, and our local season is fairly short. For the longest time we'd only have one female bird hang around the wife's garden and our feeder, so I didn't have too many chances. We were blessed this year with up to four of them, three males and one female. Now to see if they stick around for me!

I've given up on trying to use autofocus on my 75-300mm zoom, it just focuses too slow, and if the bird moves out of the central focusing point, the camera often tries to focus on what's way behind the critter. And manual focusing isn't all that great either, as they rarely keep still for me. Having plants they like around helps, and I shot quite a few birds around some bee balm flowers my wife planted. These have mulltiple trumpet blossoms which keep the birds interested, but they also zip from one blossom to the other, making it difficult.

Here's one from a few years ago showing its little feet that you are interested in:

I needed to use my auxiliary flash for this one, shot at 1/1250, f/5.6 and ISO 100, at 300mm. Without the flash most of the bird would have been in shadow. As I mentioned previously, my Canon 430EX flash can be set at high speed synch, allowing it to fire at higher shutter speeds.

Can't wait until this season really gets started, want to try out my Sigma 170-500mm lens on the wee ones!

First i want to say you are very kind to add your advice and wisdom and experience and patience... you must be right.. i just cannot get a couple of pics.i need a card full.. . although he is a flighty little thing and leaves me hanging there waiting for his return at 20 min. intervals.. and then if he sees me... {i know alot of them are brave and daring} this guy really hangs back and puts on the waiting game.. so cute.. and lately he is my only visitor but at least he is reliable and i am getting to know his personality..he certainly does not make it easy..but that in itself is the challenge.. your photo is magnificient.. what a shot.. and i think i should change my spot to a more of a floral setting. i have gardens all around i just hung the feeder here for my convienence.. that it not always smart.. i hope you show me your photos when you use your new lens.. i appreciate the way you explained everything too.. now i am going for it again tonight with new ambition..thanks

Nice shot.
The flower is a Bee Balm I believe. We have them in our front yard.

i know bee balm has a beautiful fragrance that also attracts bees... very good near veggie garden... i am going to grow some...

 

[vtf]

Wish I had a better lens.

 

[GooniesNeverSayDie11]

Its been a while since I posted any pics, so I figured I would join in.


Hummingbird by GooniesNeverSayDie11, on Flickr

This was taken with a Canon 400mm f/5.6 handheld

 

[Photo Lady]

Its been a while since I posted any pics, so I figured I would join in.


Hummingbird by GooniesNeverSayDie11, on Flickr

This was taken with a Canon 400mm f/5.6 handheld

Beautiful ...thanks for sharing this pic... i love it..

 

[Photo Lady]

Wish I had a better lens.

this one is great too.. love them ..

 

[Photo Lady]

 

[Photo Lady]

 

[Photo Lady]

You might find it difficult if you only have the on-camera flash. They aren't exactly the strongest or the most flattering when it comes to lighting.

I just bought the SB-700 it should help..

 

[flyin-lowe]

I was out today going to take some shots of some tree swallow babies in my back yard. Wouldn't you know as I was getting ready a hummingbird came up and was looking in at the baby tree swallows. Like stated above the 75-300 is far from the best lens but I just picked it up and started shooting. Obviously I did no editing and my camera was set at the time in aperture priority I was at f/7.1 trying to get some bokah and still not have the lens maxed out. Somebody with a better lens and more experience then me could have done a lot better. Anyway here are the few I got.