Hummers -- Share Your Hummingbird Images

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Artsy image. I converted to Greyscale in Photoshop
 
From November 2020 through February 2021, we had a very unique visitor to our Pasadena, CA yard. A Broad-billed Hummingbird. The last record of one of these in Los Angeles County was over 10 years prior. We had birders from all over the state coming to see and photograph this guy (we called him "Bill"). I probably took a thousand photos of him. This was among my favorites (Nikon D500, Sigma 150-600):

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From November 2020 through February 2021, we had a very unique visitor to our Pasadena, CA yard. A Broad-billed Hummingbird. The last record of one of these in Los Angeles County was over 10 years prior. We had birders from all over the state coming to see and photograph this guy (we called him "Bill"). I probably took a thousand photos of him. This was among my favorites (Nikon D500, Sigma 150-600):

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Beautiful image. Very colorful and sharp. Thank you for posting.
 
I keep going back to Ecuador, since it is the country with most species of hummingbirds .Sapphire-vented Puffleg . Zuro Loma Preserve , Ecuador. Nikon D7200 @ 1/750 sec. ISO 800. Nikon 500mm F4E @4.8. Please click on the image for full resolution. In the Photo-sapiens.net tour we get images with natural light as this one but also with multi-flash or LED lights when natural light conditions are not favorable. This way we can take advantage of most hours of the day to continue photographing.

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I don't normally post in these group type postings, just because I think images quickly get lost. But the images are so good in these that I felt a desire to contribute, even if I'm not quite up to the quality of some of the posts I see here.



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I don't normally post in these group type postings, just because I think images quickly get lost. But the images are so good in these that I felt a desire to contribute, even if I'm not quite up to the quality of some of the posts I see here.



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Cool image of the Violet ear. Multi-flash likely? I have been doing multi-flash for several years. The downside: lots of equipment and one photographer at a time for shhoting. I am evolving to similar setup but with LED's . Several people can take images at the same time.I am traveling to Ecuador within 1 mos, will see the results for the new setup.
 
Cool image of the Violet ear. Multi-flash likely? I have been doing multi-flash for several years. The downside: lots of equipment and one photographer at a time for shhoting. I am evolving to similar setup but with LED's . Several people can take images at the same time.I am traveling to Ecuador within 1 mos, will see the results for the new setup.

Daniel - yes, this was a multi-flash set up. If I remember correctly, about 4 or 5 strobes and radio triggers. I'll be curious to see how your LEDs work out.
 
"The emotional trigger". Zuro Loma, Ecuador I love the sword -billed and the emotional connection with his eye in the image. The bill is impressive and he gave me the gift of showing the tongue inside the flower. The light was very low so I needed to use a wide aperture, decreasing the depth of field. That's why the feathers appear out of focus in the lower chest. Sometimes we need to make compromises because of the sun setting. Thank you for watching.https://www.facebook.com/daniel.zdonczyk/
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Booted Racket-tail. Close to Nanegalito, Ecuador continues to have very cooperative hummingbirds for multi-flash technique. Taken in early October 2021 in the Photo-Sapiens.net tour. Nikon Z6II @1/180 esc , ISO 800. Nikon 300mm F4, PF @F8. I keep going back to Ecuador because it has the most species of hummers.


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Buffed-winged Starfrontlet, Zuro Loma , Ecuador.Nikon 300PF @5.6. Nikon Z6II @ 1/1000 sec.

We had very good light during the morning but in the afternoon it rained so we set up a LED system under a roof. We continued photographing the whole afternoon until almost darkness. In this image the background is natural vegetation. Multiple photographers were able to take images at the same time. (Contrary to multi flash in which only one photographer can shoot at a time).

The advantages of a LED system are:

#1 : you can use an artificial background that you illuminate or the natural greenery of the background vegetation.

#2: multiple photographers can take images at the same time as described above.

#3: With a mirrorless camera you can see the image you will be taking before you press the shutter. (That cannot be done with multi-flash).

#4: Depending on the shutter speed that you use, you can achieve blurring of the wings which gives a sensation of movement and doesn't freeze the wings as seen in multi flash. This makes for a more dynamic picture.

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#4: Most importantly you can continue taking images even when the natural light is not favorable, either with a high sun or very dim light. We shoot all day long , taking advantage of every minute of the day !

The website software wouldn’t take a portrait image so I did it as a landscape. To see it as in portrait mode (looks better) please see my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/daniel.zdonczyk/ . Thank you for watching.
 
Daniel - yes, this was a multi-flash set up. If I remember correctly, about 4 or 5 strobes and radio triggers. I'll be curious to see how your LEDs work out.
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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