Hummingbird entertainment

As the hummers fatten up for their trip south a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird has staked claim to our feeder and aggressively defends "her" feeder against all comers. It is great fun to watch and listen to their battles. A good photo op too.

Here she stands guard on a handy perch, a suncatcher on our deck. This was taken with a D50 and 70-300 VR at 300mm, but no VR (tripod mounted).
300mm, 1/250 @ f/11, ISO400



The following were all taken with a Nikon 28-200 f/3.5-5.6 IF-ED. All settings manual, including focus and SB800 fill flash. It is important to pick a nice sunny day with plenty of light. The idea is to expose for the available light with as high a shutter speed as possible and use the flash only for fill. Too much flash will turn the feathers yellow from the reflected flash.

I use a homemade cardboard blind (really just a shield) with the camera tripod mounted. Distances are 20" to 30". Arrange the feeder in line with the background flowers and do test exposures to determine the manual settings. All feeder stations except the target station are covered with tape to direct the hummer where I want it. I place clear cellophane "shipping tape" to cover the perch at the remaining station so the hummer can not land. They will feed while hovering and every few seconds they back away 4 or 5 inches, then return. I try to catch them as they back off.

Focus is a problem since they are constantly moving. My best success is by picking the spot they back off to annd manually focusing there. Then take lots of shots and hope you get lucky on a few percent.

200mm, 1/640 @ f/9, ISO400



200mm, 1/800 @ f/8, ISO400



150mm, 1/800 @ f/7.1, ISO400



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Mike Larson

Owls and other Critters
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mdlsr/home/index.html

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

Great shots Mike! I especially like the 3rd one. I like your
fill flash technique - best of both worlds and they don't
look "overflashed" at all - just enough I think. I use a similar
technique to shoot hummers (prefocus etc) but you still have
to get lucky & shoot lots to get a few keepers. Our Ruby Throats
have left for this year but I managed a few keepers but never
got a male - next year maybe!

thanks for posting!

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Lou

http://loutent.smugmug.com/

Mike,

These are excellent examples of how to catch hummers in filght. I tried the same technique before many times and many times I got a blurry wing motion and I saw the same results in others' hummer shots. So this is a surprise to me that you actually could freeze the hummer's wing motion under the bright light and the use of fill flash. This is quite contrary to what some experts told me. Were both the feeder and the background under the bright light?

I want to experiment this but my feeder is always under the shade.

Thanks for sharing your techniques and beautiful hummer shots.

Hide

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http://www.pbase.com/coffee/madera_canyon

http://www.pbase.com/coffee/humming_birds_by_d50

Ours have already departed. Dave
--
please visit my gallery at http://www.poperotzy.smugmug.com
There is a link for saving on your own Smugmug account.

Really great shots!! And thanks for sharing your technique! Very impressive!

Mike,

Great shots. Thanks for sharing them. Very impressive!
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Mike

these have to be one of the best humming bird photos i've seen posted here in a long time. thanks for sharing!

cheers,

norma
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http://idp.smugmug.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/idp05/

Hide Takahashi said:

Mike,

These are excellent examples of how to catch hummers in filght. I
tried the same technique before many times and many times I got a
blurry wing motion and I saw the same results in others' hummer
shots. So this is a surprise to me that you actually could freeze the
hummer's wing motion under the bright light and the use of fill
flash. This is quite contrary to what some experts told me. Were both
the feeder and the background under the bright light?

I want to experiment this but my feeder is always under the shade.

Thanks for sharing your techniques and beautiful hummer shots.

Hide

Click to expand...

Thanks Hide, but if you look carefully you will see that the wings in my shots are not frozen. Rather, there is a frozen image of the wing and a slightly darker blur parallel to it. The frozen part is from the fill flash and the blur is from the 1/640 or 1/800 second exposure. I am not sure what it would take to completely freeze the wings with the shutter, but you probably wouldn't have enough light to actually do it (without flash). Actually, I like a very slight amount of wing blur. It gives the impression of motion. Too much is distraction though.

Also, for wing blur, the best time to stop the wing is all the way forward or all the way back. In between the velocity is greatest and the blur is as well. So try to time your shot for the extremes! Just kidding. But you will get more shots at the extremes because that it where the wings are reversing and slowest.

Yes, both the hummer and feeder were in direct sunlight. Note: don't try this on a day with clouds floating around. It will drive you crazy when the hummer and a cloud arrive at the same time and your exposure is wrong.

The only solution I know of for your feeder being in the shade is to move it. I do that all the time, using an old clothes rack to suspend the feeder. My wife has plenty of plants and flowers. If they are not in the right place I take a potted plant and sit it where I want, on a box or stand.

Good luck, and please post your results.

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Mike Larson

Owls and other Critters
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mdlsr/home/index.html

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the kind comments.

One thing I forgot to mention was that the flash on the D50 will not fire at shutter speeds faster than 1/500. The solution is to put a piece of tape over the two rear contacts in the hot shoe. You will only be able to use manual setting on the flash, but it does work at higher shutter speeds. I found that trick here on this board. Amazing what you can learn here.
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Mike Larson

Owls and other Critters
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/mdlsr/home/index.html