Hummingbird babies - my first ever sighting (adding more shots)

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JWest

JWest

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Until this week I had never even seen baby hummingbirds but I was also fortunate enough to get to photograph them in a nest.

I used 1200mm (600x2) and 1680mm (600x2x1.4) and cropped down to 30-50%. I was running video when the mom showed up to feed them and will have to now learn how to process motion work !

May 7
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May 6
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May 7
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May 7
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Adding these three. I hadn't posted these next two because the quality wasn't at the same level. In the mom shot the DOf wasn't sufficient and at 1/25s, it's amazing everything wasn't blurry as she showed up and everyone started moving too much for how I'd been set up. In the wings shot there is a lot of blur and it was barely usable IMO but the mood is great and there is just enough sharpness where it matters, I think.

The last one is good but I had forgotten to add it. It shows how much smaller they were just 4 days earlier.

May 7. This mom shot " is from the same day as some of the ones above with similar color palette
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May 8 This "wing test" is from one day later as they prep for flight !
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May 4 when I first saw them
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I will have May 9 shots of one on a nearby branch having left the nest...
 
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MarkH said:
Super sharp images! One of the little guys seems to be looking at you in the first shot. Third photo is like "where's Mom??" :)
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Thanks, yes, it did seem like they look at me sometimes. Sharpness and DOF was important so I risked a lot of non-keepers with the slower shutter speeds of 1/30-1/50s
 
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Replytoken said:
Nice work. Their nests are so small that they are almost impossible for me to find, even it I have been told where to look.

--Ken
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Absolutely true. Same here, luckily this one was "up the close large tree, first main branch left, then about 20" down and between the two vertical downward branches". ;- )
 
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NorthernFocus said:
Congrats on your first. And came away with some Excellent photos. Those guys are really filling that nest. Must be pretty close to flying away.
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Thanks! and yes, they left the nest about 4 hours before your reply. I missed that but did get some tonight of the mom feeding the one lingering baby who sat on a nearby branch for a few hours. This one WAS really hard to see even with other people already locked on with tripods.

I have a few good shots from it and some 4k 60p video to learn how to process...
 
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viper699 said:
These are incredibly SHARP. It looks like they were a few feet in front of you, amazing.
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Thank you. Yes, I took a lot of time and various combinations to get more DOF and sharpness that can be lost at iso too high. So, a lot of losses but the longer exposures that worked were worth it.

Also, I don't use high speed shutter as I'd still be sorting them days later LOL. I actually set my "low speed" shutter to 3 so that a one finger click results in just one shot but if you have movement and are trying to catch a few with less subject motion, then the 3x is plenty but not crazy to sort through later.
 
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JWest said:
Thank you. Yes, I took a lot of time and various combinations to get more DOF and sharpness that can be lost at iso too high. So, a lot of losses but the longer exposures that worked were worth it.

Also, I don't use high speed shutter as I'd still be sorting them days later LOL. I actually set my "low speed" shutter to 3 so that a one finger click results in just one shot but if you have movement and are trying to catch a few with less subject motion, then the 3x is plenty but not crazy to sort through later.
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The colors came out really well. What did you do for post. I don’t normally go for this look, but these all stand out extremely well, def something to enter into photography contests
 
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viper699 said:
The colors came out really well. What did you do for post. I don’t normally go for this look, but these all stand out extremely well, def something to enter into photography contests
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The color was actually a bit tricky due to what happens when a canopy of green reflects against everything. Sometimes it's hard to get looking realistic. I have found this to be true ever since my start with digital and the Canon 1Ds mark 1 in the early 2000's. With film it was exactly as you'd seen it.

Anyway, I only used LRC for these so far but I didn't do much special with color other than which direction the almost mandatory shift would have to occur. I say this because simple methods like choosing an auto balance or even white point picker sends the whole thing too far one way or another due to the mixed green hue. Too much shift in the greens sends the pure whites to magenta, it can be maddening.
 
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