Capturing Hummers

[Alan]

Nice shot Alan. I personally dont have the patience or arms to hold the camera for that long. Sometimes it may take me two or three hours just to get a few shots. So great job taking these handheld.


I am curious about your background. Is it just open space, or did you use something?


Bob
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Thanks, Bob. My arms can also get tired. []


That background is the side of my house, which is at least 20 feet away. It's far enough away that at f/5.6, it's blurred completely.

[Bill W]

Finally got thru the first round (culling and PP a few) of my air show photos (really tired of looking at planes), so I went out this morning to shoot some HBs.


Boy, has the sun moved in just a week....fall is moving in quickly...to my benefit actually. I have much softer light on one of the feeders, but of course they didn't cooperate.


But I did catch my first juvie male RTHB of the season; 7D, 100-400 at 400mm, f6.3, ISO 400, 1/640





Just a thought for this thread; what would you think about IDing your HBs when you post them?


I know I have it pretty easy, living east of the Mississippi and having pretty much just the Ruby throated HB....thoughts?


Bob....headed your way next week and looking forward to some Calliopes and Anna's.


Great sites and links folks...thanks for sharing.


Bill

[Photog82]

Bob, I think if the writting and story is enjoyable and well written I think people would enjoy it. I too use zenfolio, however, I have my own blog on my personal site. I'm wondering if I should start using their blog to give some of the photos a history. I'll have to look into it.

By the way your photos are great. Do you sit in a bird blind or have a large lens? I use the Canon 70-300 non L lens (I'd love to trade up to it though). I can't hotlink from ZF, but I'll post a link until I can get it uploaded elsewhere: http://www.jrogdenphotography.com/wi...other/ec6f0140 - the male wouldn't come out to play, only the female.

[bob williams]

Do you sit in a bird blind or have a large lens?

Thanks James------No, I usually don't sit in a blind unless I am shooting song birds and Yes, I do have a 500. But I have shot several of my H-Bird shots with a 100, so your 70-300 should work fine for hummers. Hummingbirds seem to be very tolerant of flashes and other close equipment so distance is normally not an issue. The problem with wider lenses is that you have more background to light which introduces more challenges depending on what your intent is.

[conropl]

Bob - I would be very interested in reading about how you get so many great shots of HB's. Your set up gives me something to strive for... although I do not think I can afford your set up (at least not right now with three kids in college). If you have some suggestions on how to get better shots with less flashes, and how to attract more HB's that would be great; but I think degrading your set up would only serve to diminish the great quality that you manage to get with your shots.

[bob williams]

Your set up gives me something to strive for... although I do not think I can afford your set up

Thanks Conropl, but I will be the first to admit some of my favorite shots were taken with a $20 shoplight tiewrapped to a ladder and one canon flash.

but I think degrading your set up would only serve to diminish the great quality that you manage to get with your shots.

Conropl, I didn't understand this comment, could you explain

If you have some suggestions on how to get better shots with less flashes, and how to attract more HB's that would be great

Yes, I do have suggestions for both---time is short this morning, but I will try and offer some suggetstions this afternoon or this weekend when I start working on the blog.

[conropl]

Originally Posted by conropl
but I think degrading your set up would only serve to diminish the great quality that you manage to get with your shots.

Originally Posted by bob williams
Conropl, I didn't understand this comment, could you explain

What I meant was that the quality of your HB shots are awesome, and I am looking to get good results with a lesser set up. In the end, I realize that you cannot point me in a direction that would be a down grade of your set up and still get pictures of the quality you produce. However, I would be very happy to learn more so I can do better with what I have... with the realization that I am not going to reach your level of quality shots without putting more money into flashes and glass. Basically, you are out of my league, but I would like to get better.

[Bill W]

one of my favorites from last season....the attachment came out darker than the original....resulting in loss of head details.

Bill

[bob williams]

What I meant was that the quality of your HB shots are awesome, and I am looking to get good results with a lesser set up. In the end, I realize that you cannot point me in a direction that would be a down grade of your set up and still get pictures of the quality you produce. However, I would be very happy to learn more so I can do better with what I have... with the realization that I am not going to reach your level of quality shots without putting more money into flashes and glass. Basically, you are out of my league, but I would like to get better.

Conrople, don't let my set-up influence you, you can get great h-bird shots with far less equipment and a little garage engineering. Her are a couple of examples:

This was shot with natural light only:



and this one was shot with one speedflash and a shoplight on the background:

[conropl]

Conrople, don't let my set-up influence you, you can get great h-bird shots with far less equipment and a little garage engineering.

I have one flash and a 100-400mm L. I am thinking about getting a "Better Beamer".

I still am interested in a blog or any tips to get better, although I think I still have 2-3 months before I am going to see any HB's.

Here is my best from last year using a flash. I have a ways to go , and need to work on the back ground and sharpness.


Hummingbird by westmichigan, on Flickr

And one w/o flash:


Hummingbird2 by westmichigan, on Flickr