kumarchalla

Anna's Hummingbird

Canon EOS 60D

settings

Aperture f/5.6 ISO 1600 Shutter 1/3200 Focal Length 400/1

upload_date

May, 2016

Views

105

Likes

+10

Awards

Peer Award

Absolute Masterpiece

Superb Composition

Superior Skill

Magnificent Capture

Top Choice

Top Ranks

Top 30 rank

Top 30 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo at my home in California. This was my first foray into bird photography and I am now hooked!

Time

It was late afternoon in the golden hour and the hummers were just returning for dinner. I saw that the birds would come around to my front yard at about 4pm every day and on this day, I was ready with my camera.

Lighting

I wanted to only use natural light for this shot and set up the feeder in a way that the humming birds would be lit by the sun whenever they hover above the feeder. This involved taping off one of the three holes closest to me in my feeder so that the birds would have to use the other two holes. This guaranteed that the birds would face me whenever they dove in for a sip. Also, I made sure that the background was as smooth as I could get by pointing my camera at the wall of a building across the street and placing the feeder in that sight line.

Equipment

I used my trusty old Canon 60D with a Canon 100-400 L lens (the old one). This combination was then mounted on a gimbal head on my Induro CLT204 carbon fiber tripod.

Inspiration

I like challenges and I thought this would be great way to put myself (and my camera) up for a good challenge. I particularly enjoyed the prep work that went into planning the shot. The lighting, location and observing the hummingbirds' behavior to pull together a higher chance of getting a good shot.

Editing

I did do some minor editing in Adobe Lightroom. Mainly cropping, contrast and shadows. After this, I used Topaz de-noise to clean-up some high ISO noise.

In my camera bag

I almost always have three lenses with me at all times. They are the Tokina 11-16 f2.8 II, Canon 15-85 USM and the Canon 100-400L. This gives me a working range from ultra wide (11mm) to super telephoto (400mm). If I am hiking and need to carry a lighter weight, I usually take the Canon 15-85mm with my 60D.

Feedback

What I learned from my time doing photography is that the motivation to go out and shoot is 90% of the battle of getting a good shot. This allows me to put in the leg work and preparation to be at the correct place at the correct time to get the shot. As for actual photography tips, I will say that doing your research and being prepared is almost as important as taking the shot. Research light, weather and subject behavior to increase your chances of getting the shot. One thing I rarely see advice is to mind the background. It is often easy to be so focused on the subject that we sometimes don't notice that the background is busy/distracting. Also, in some cases like bird/wildlife photography, equipment absolutely matters. Investing in a good lens will save a lot of frustration and disappointment.

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kumarchalla

kumarchalla

Anna's Hummingbird

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow kumarchalla

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