Thursday, August 25, 2011

A hummingbird sampler

We have hummingbirds in our neighborhood year-round. There's one feeder hanging outside our master bathroom window, and another hanging in our back patio. They are constantly buzzing and chirping.

I use a tripod-mounted Nikon 300mm f/4 lens most of the time when photographing hummingbirds, although I have hand-held it on some occasions. Mounted on a Nikon DX DSLR, like my D300, the 300mm has an angle of view equivalent to a 450mm lens mounted on a 35mm film or full-frame DSLR. I can never get close enough to get some really cool shots taken by my friends that I've seen.

Usually the best light for me has been during the late-afternoon or early evening like this:


In the mid-summer's early evening the birds are backlit, which outlines them nicely but can pose an exposure problem:




In the former picture I did not add any exposure compensation, but in the latter picture I added one stop. I just took a picture, previewed it and looked at its histogram, then adjusted my exposure accordingly.

I've always liked this hummingbird picture best:


The light was wonderful in how it sculpted the shape of the bird and also how there is detail in the shadows and yet the highlights aren't overexposed.

Finally, I only have two flying hummingbird pictures that are worth sharing, so I picked this one:


I used shutter-priority on all these pictures because these birds are fast; just pick a fast shutter speed (like 1/1000 second or faster) and let the camera worry about picking the aperture.

(Shot with the Nikon D200 using a Nikon 300mm f/4 lens; shutter-priority with shutter speed set between 1/800 second and 1/1250 second; normal or fine JPG.)

7 comments:

  1. Beautiful shots! I just can't get close enough with my current lenses. A nice telephoto is next on my list. Maybe the new 200-400mm f/4L IS. Not sure if an f/2.8 is worth the exorbitant cost differential.

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  2. Oh, I take that back. After reading a couple of reviews, it appears that lens is going to be in the $8000 range when it arrives later this year. Too rich for my blood.

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  3. thanks. trying to get close enough reminds me of the hummingbirds that hung around my parents' place in the roaring fork valley. they were so tolerant of people being around; they'd land on your finger to drink from a feeder if you placed it close to one. the ones in our neighborhood are much more leery of people being around.

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  4. I know there are a few hummingbirds around this area, but you hardly ever seen them. They definitely don't stay around long enough to get the camera handy to be able to get even a bad picture of them!

    I really love those shots you've gotten! I don't think I can pick a favorite in the group.

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  5. The colors of the shot with the bird on the bird of paradise are lovely!

    I have a small stained glass bird with a bright red berry that is suction-cuped to my window. The hummers come within inches of the window, whether I'm on the other side or not, to look at the bit of red before flying away. :)

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  6. i thought that was a picture just waiting to be taken because the green and orange of the birds-of-paradise mimicked the hummingbird. it just stayed there while i composed the shot. for a few moments i watched and enjoyed what i was seeing; if i didn't get a picture, it was no big deal. but i am glad that i did get it.

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  7. So beautiful! I didn't know hummingbirds came in different colours. We sadly don't have them in New Zealand. And I've been trying unsuccessfully to grow a Strelitzia for about 25 years, grrr. I love them and I love these photos.

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