~Beauty in Flight~
Male Rufous Hummingbird
1-500s
f4.0
ISO 100
May, 2014Views
706
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo on my porch where my Hummingbird feeder is located, Sicamous, British Columbia, Canada.Time
This was taken in the afternoon at 3:25 pm., when the sun was facing the front of my porch.Lighting
I find shooting hummingbirds is better achieved when the sun is gleaming off of their backs. It helps to illuminate their coloring and their delicate wings.Equipment
I don't as of yet own a 'Pro' camera, as I am a self-taught Photographer since June 2012. This shot was captured using Sony SLT-A55V, tripod and my 70 - 210 mm Minolta Beer Can Lens. 1/500s, F4, ISO 100Inspiration
I am absolutely OBSESSED with hummingbirds. They are the most beautiful, delicate, tiny creatures. Just the day before this shot, I had noticed that my 'Hummy', as I call him and he comes to, was back for the season. Didn't take me long to get some hummingbird nectar going on the stove, regardless of recouping and having been idle for over 8 weeks with torn ligaments and trapeze muscles. I wanted to be able to capture a shot of their beauty to share with others on the first few days of seeing him. A lot of people have never seen one up close to admire what loveliness that they have to offer, especially those that live in big cities.Editing
Yes, I did do post processing on this. I wanted to show off the beauty and coloring of the hummingbird without distractions of the other colors in the background; so I chose to desaturate the background, leaving the hummingbird in all it's wondrous, natural colors.In my camera bag
Like I said, I don't have PRO cameras as of yet, I am saving for one. - Sony A35 - Sony SLT/A55V - 50 mm Sony DT 1.8/50 SAM - Minolta AF 70-210 mm Beer Can Lens - Sony 4.5-5.6/75-300 mm - Minolta AF 28-100 mm - Rokinon 500mm 1:6.3 DX and Doubler - Zeikos 0.45x Super Wide Angle - Zeikos 0.45x Wide Angle 58 mm - Zeikos MC AF 2x Telephoto Lens - cable remote - filters - lens cloths - Sony DSLR Photography Quick Tips Sheets I have other lenses but am unable to carry all of them with me. Usually, depending on what I am going out to shoot, I have 2 separate bags with which I can grab or I take both, just in case! You just never know what you may come across!Feedback
Since I am self-taught, I have read just about everything there is about Photographing Hummingbirds! Seeing how expensive photography equipment is, there is no way that I could have gone out and afforded all of the equipment that I was reading about in order to obtain a decent shot of a hummingbird with its wings. The articles I was reading were saying that it required 3-4 external flashes hooked up to radio triggers in order to obtain a half decent photo. This was the first shot of the season (not to mention I was still recouping from injury) and the more I shot, the better my shots got. My advice to those who do not have the means with which to obtain all the fancy gadgets to photograph them can still capture them fairly decently by making sure that they don't go below 1/500s. If you go below that, you take the chance of just capturing their body and their wings being invisible. I was interested in being able to capture their wings and not just air, so I practiced until I was able to hit the proper exposure time with which to freeze their wings. Also, I switched my metering mode to Center Weighted and not Multi Segment, so that other objects in or around the hummingbird were not being focused in on as much. LIGHTING is key for these little fellas, I think! Best to wait for the sun to illuminate their backs if you don't have the other external flashes that they say you need.
