Hummers -- Share Your Hummingbird Images

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frdjohns

frdjohns

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Daniel Zdonczyk said:
Hi Fred , the Buffed-winged Starfrontlet posted above was done with LED. I just came back from Ecuador. The results were great overall, very smooth and even light. I need to tweak the rim light a bit so not to burn the flower as happened above. It can be done easily with a dimmer. The only negative is 50 lbs of equipment. I was hoping for a less heavy set-up.
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Daniel - is this LED system continuous lighting?
 
Brute (Ken Smith)

Brute (Ken Smith)

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Wow
Great shots of the Hummingbirds everyone :)

Calliope
This little guy was using this stick as a perch for a couple different days.

Calliope Hummingbird June 2015 a-4084.JPG
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Calliope Hummingbird June 2015 a-4113.JPG
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KurtT

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Couple more recent shots of my rufous-2 days ago
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and a dive, didn't even come close to wing freeze.
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Ken Miracle

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Run and Gun ... heading back fast down the mountain from a favorite birding patch to beat a fast approaching rain storm back to the vehicle.

I stopped for a moment to snap these shots of a female Calliope Hummingbird.

What I wanted the Z9 and Z800mm pf combo for birding in varied and and sometimes steep and rough terrain and being able to quickly capture bird ID shots.

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DRwyoming

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Not seeing as many hummingbirds in the yard this year as we have in the past but noticed this immature male Rufous hummingbird who's just beginning to get his gorget hanging out this evening and grabbed a couple of shots as the light levels dropped.

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bajadreamer

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DRwyoming said:
Not seeing as many hummingbirds in the yard this year as we have in the past but noticed this immature male Broad Tailed hummingbird who's just beginning to get his gorget hanging out this evening and grabbed a couple of shots as the light levels dropped.

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Very nice. You caught the head angle perfectly. Funny, I live in So California on the coast and we have more hummers this summer than usual. Only 2 species, Anna's and Allen's/Rufous, but more individuals. Maybe they decided to stay with us for the summer.
 
Ken Miracle

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This Rufous Hummingbird image always makes me smile and helps with bird and habitat conservation awareness. It was featured in an article "Just for the birds: So many ways to fly" by Ornithologist Terry Rich in the Idaho Press that serves the Boise metro area here in Idaho, last week.
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DRwyoming

DRwyoming

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Ken Miracle said:
This Rufous Hummingbird image always makes me smile and helps with bird and habitat conservation awareness. It was featured in an article "Just for the birds: So many ways to fly" by Ornithologist Terry Rich in the Idaho Press that serves the Boise metro area here in Idaho, last week.
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Congrats. Great image!
 
dupcak

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I just started with hummingbird photos this weekend (hence the feeder image) - to put it mildly I have no idea how everyone is getting such great photos. Our one resident Ruby Throated is so skittish that it spooks if I bat an eyelash sitting inside our house 6 meters away so these are heavily cropped. Anyway, lots to learn. Not helped by the fact that animal subject detection insists on finding some sort of animal face in our red glass feeder :cool:
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DRwyoming

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dupcak said:
I just started with hummingbird photos this weekend (hence the feeder image) - to put it mildly I have no idea how everyone is getting such great photos. Our one resident Ruby Throated is so skittish that it spooks if I bat an eyelash sitting inside our house 6 meters away so these are heavily cropped. Anyway, lots to learn. Not helped by the fact that animal subject detection insists on finding some sort of animal face in our red glass feeder :cool:
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FWIW, I don't use any animal subject detection modes even when shooting mirrorless but use a focusing mode like a mid sized Dynamic AF Area or the Large or Small AF Area mode (or Group in a DSLR) and position that in the viewfinder so it's a bit up and away from the feeder or flower so the AF doesn't latch onto the feeder/flower. After each sequence I'll refocus on the feeder/flower to get the focus close but position the camera so the feeder/flower is along the edge or in the corner of the frame and wait for a hummer to come in, feed and then back out before trying for a shot as shooting as they approach tends to scare them away(especially with DSLR shutter noise) but if they feed first they seem a bit more tolerant.

With a flower I'll sometimes take the image while the bird is feeding but usually wait until the bird feeds a bit and then backs up and away. They don't always hover there but they do that often enough that I can usually focus and capture a few images.

I've tried simple blinds that break up the human form like hanging a sheet between two stands and just standing behind it and have sometimes set up feeders just outside an open window and used the house as a blind. But most of the time I just stay quietly near the flowers or feeder I'm working and in time the birds come in as long as I don't make a lot of sudden movements but something as simple as letting the camera hang down and then raising it to my eye as a hummer flies in is enough to scare it away. So if the birds are particularly active I might hold the camera up in shooting position and wait, if they're less active and taking longer between feedings I'll use a tripod to stay ready but the latter assumes I'm working a specific group of flowers or a feeder and not moving around as the birds feed around a wider area.

Placing a feeder near some flowers and letting the hummers get used to coming into that feeder and then removing the feeder and placing a few drops of sugar water on the flowers is one way to get them coming and feeding off specific flowers but often I just see which flowers they seem to be visiting frequently and set up near those flowers.
 
dupcak

dupcak

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DRwyoming said:
FWIW, I don't use any animal subject detection modes even when shooting mirrorless but use a focusing mode like a mid sized Dynamic AF Area or the Large or Small AF Area mode (or Group in a DSLR) and position that in the viewfinder so it's a bit up and away from the feeder or flower so the AF doesn't latch onto the feeder/flower. After each sequence I'll refocus on the feeder/flower to get the focus close but position the camera so the feeder/flower is along the edge or in the corner of the frame and wait for a hummer to come in, feed and then back out before trying for a shot as shooting as they approach tends to scare them away(especially with DSLR shutter noise) but if they feed first they seem a bit more tolerant.

With a flower I'll sometimes take the image while the bird is feeding but usually wait until the bird feeds a bit and then backs up and away. They don't always hover there but they do that often enough that I can usually focus and capture a few images.

I've tried simple blinds that break up the human form like hanging a sheet between two stands and just standing behind it and have sometimes set up feeders just outside an open window and used the house as a blind. But most of the time I just stay quietly near the flowers or feeder I'm working and in time the birds come in as long as I don't make a lot of sudden movements but something as simple as letting the camera hang down and then raising it to my eye as a hummer flies in is enough to scare it away. So if the birds are particularly active I might hold the camera up in shooting position and wait, if they're less active and taking longer between feedings I'll use a tripod to stay ready but the latter assumes I'm working a specific group of flowers or a feeder and not moving around as the birds feed around a wider area.

Placing a feeder near some flowers and letting the hummers get used to coming into that feeder and then removing the feeder and placing a few drops of sugar water on the flowers is one way to get them coming and feeding off specific flowers but often I just see which flowers they seem to be visiting frequently and set up near those flowers.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for all the suggestions lots of good information there - I have been using dynamic AF a bunch that's on my joystick as my emergency use button :) It's old fashioned but it works.

Thanks for the other recommendations - I'm currently using my house as a blind and shooting out an open window - but maybe I can use your method of hanging up sheets. Heck - dry the laundry and take photos - two birds with one stone :)
 
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