Capturing Hummers

[bob williams]

Thanks Guys,

Originally Posted by Joel Eade... the one with the gorget nicely illuminated does NOT look flat to me at all, in fact the way it is separated from the BG it looks more 3D than the other ones to me
I agree with this as well. It seemed to have more seperation to the BG, and the edges of the bird are very well defined.

That's why I chose this one---It's a little soft but did look better than most of the others---But the light was pretty flat on most of the others.

[Scott Stephen]

I am getting some "decent" natural light shots of HB's, but there is a "light side" and a "shade side" on my feeder due to the shadow of the feeder itself. Naturally, you can guess which side happens to be their favorite side. I was thinking of just taping over the "holes" on the shady side.

I was also thinking about hanging reflectors, or their more aesthetically acceptable equivalents, on the porch for the other regular (bireseed) feeders.

Does anyone think that hanging some of those "mirror globe" or "gazing ball" things would reflect enough light to be helpful? I figure the spherical shape would make it omni-directional so if I have one on each side of the feeder perhaps I would he covered?

[bob williams]

I was thinking of just taping over the "holes" on the shady side.

This technique works very well---it gets the bird eaxactly where you want them. As Far as reflectors, I have never used them so I really don't have any good info for you.


Bob

[bob williams]

Nothing great, but here are a few from this morning:

[Joel Eade]

Those are all pretty dang good!

I think the first and last ones are my favorite.

We are seeing several Ruby Throats now but I haven't had the chance to set up for them yet and man it's been hot (95 yesterday)

[ddt0725]

Beautiful shots, Bob! I love the graceful pose of the last one!

[bob williams]

And A couple of more from this weekend; finally had some luck getting them to hit the flowers.

[ddt0725]

Beautiful shots, Bob! I have seen a hb in my yard pretty frequently lately but if I blink he is gone!

[bob williams]

Lately I have been getting board with hummingbird shots. I still love the challenge, but I feel like my backgrounds, comp, flower selections and birds are all starting to look the same, but this morning my passion was re-invigorated. I went out early this morning and did just a basic setup and noticed that I had at least 8 or 10 hummingbirds trying to eat off of my one feeder---a lot more activity than what I have been seeing. I shot for about 45 minutes before the sun came up and when I uploaded my photos I realized I had at least 4 and maybe 5 different species of birds. Normally I only see 1 or two species, so this was very exciting for me. Although the shots are really nothing to brag about, I was thrilled with the variety and now am planning to work on my setup to see if I can change it up a bit for some variety.

My first Calliope:



Male Rufous---Not my first, but they have been very rare here this year.



And one I 75% sure that is a Broadtailed H-bird, but could be an Anna or perhaps I have both visiting.



So that brings my H-bird visitor list to: Calliopies, Blackchins, Rufous', Broadtails and maybe Annas.

[Joel Eade]

Very very nice....all 3 are well done...I have yet to set up for them this year....we are headed home from Tampa tomorrow. Grand daughter and daughter are home and doing well.

PS I have obtained a second hand Epson 3880 printer and I am planning to print some HB backgrounds .... it can go up to 17X22 inches. If you're interested, I can print a few and send 'em for you to try.