Capturing Hummers

[Bill W]

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

Bill

[Joel Eade]

That's a really good one! How's the set up coming along for this year?

[Bill W]

Thanks Joel...we're still 6 to 8 weeks away from HB sightings. We still have a few inches of snow on the ground, so other than looking at new plantings and trying to anticipate how the increased light will affect the HB garden....its just a waiting game for now and shooting the backyard birds.

I've been pretty much confined to the house for the past 8 weeks....we're fostering a family of Chow Chows; i.e. mother and 7 pups...now down to 4 pups; 3 have been adopted w/a 4th possibly adopted this wkend. Flickr link to see some puppy shots; http://www.flickr.com/photos/29409592@N03/

Backyard Grackle, attached, showing off iridescence.

Regards,
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:

[Joel Eade]

Thanks Joel...we're still 6 to 8 weeks away from HB sightings. We still have a few inches of snow on the ground, so other than looking at new plantings and trying to anticipate how the increased light will affect the HB garden....its just a waiting game for now and shooting the backyard birds.

I've been pretty much confined to the house for the past 8 weeks....we're fostering a family of Chow Chows; i.e. mother and 7 pups...now down to 4 pups; 3 have been adopted w/a 4th possibly adopted this wkend. Flickr link to see some puppy shots; http://www.flickr.com/photos/29409592@N03/

Backyard Grackle, attached, showing off iridescence.

Regards,
Bill

.

We are in the same time frame for HB's returning, all the other local birds are really active now. I am looking forward to see what you end up building for your outdoor studio. I want to get some backgrounds. I am a procrastinator but I'll tell you about that later.....

[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

[bob williams]

Nice shots Conropl, I never really appreciated my 100-400 until I started shooting humming birds. It is capable of very sharp shots when manually focused---And...Although its a little heavy, Its still my favorite walk around lens. The better beamer is also a very good investment, I think Joel recently mentioned that it is "the best bang for the buck" It really does help a great deal and works very well on the hummers and other birds where distance might be a problem.

Also, I just started writing the intro to my blog so I am hoping to finish and post something this weekend.

[bob williams]

They all flew away in September, and it is now March----I am going through withdrawls, where are all of my little friends???? Six months of preperation, some new equipment and a newly constructed H-bird studio, But no birds

[Kayaker72]

I have been processing my photos from vacation (Costa Rica). I liked these three of hummingbirds:


Small-3711 by kayaker72, on Flickr


Small-3011 by kayaker72, on Flickr


Small-3030 by kayaker72, on Flickr

Thanks for viewing.....Brant

[bob williams]

Brant----I'm Jealousssssss. These birds are wonderful. Have you by chance identified them?