Nature Break_DSC_8886
Even the most dainty Anna's Hummingbird needs to take nature breaks. This was photographed on 14 DEC 2019 in the back yard of the Sugg's residence in ...
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Even the most dainty Anna's Hummingbird needs to take nature breaks. This was photographed on 14 DEC 2019 in the back yard of the Sugg's residence in Orange Co., CA. This was a special party for the students of a beginning birding class. This is the back yard of one of the field trip leaders.
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Apr, 2020Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at the backyard of Ralph Sugg's residence where I was invited to a gathering of students. Ralph was one of our field group leaders for the Learning California Bird Sounds class taught by Sea and Sage volunteer Silvia Gallagher. Silvia is a great lady who takes students into her home to teach us how to identify birds from sight or sound. The party was to commemorate all of us completing the LCBS class and to partake in stationary bird watching.Time
This was taken at 10:54 AM on the 14th day of December, 2019 and was part of a series of 31 photos most of which showed this beautiful Anna's Hummingbird most of which are flashing shades of red, to chartreuse colored gorget.Lighting
Most of the morning was dull overcast skies up until these photos. Filtered soft sunlight caught this hummer perfectly. With soft light and the right angle this guy's gorget glowed and did not brightly flash.Equipment
This was taken hand-held with my Nikon D500 crop body fitted with Nikon's 200-500 mm, F5.6 China made zoom lens.Inspiration
The hummingbird was being very cooperative and let me take 31 photos. I did not plan to try to get a photo of him passing water, but 1 of the 31 images was just that and for me is not a first but is a rare photo. I typically shoot 50 to 200 bird images on a shoot.Editing
I use Lightroom (both CC and Classic) and don't remember which in this case. At most I do minor corrections by trying auto first. I reopened this NEF raw file and see that most likely was an auto compensated image that slightly darkened image (-0.74 EV stops).In my camera bag
One or two spare batteries, lens cleaning brush and Hoodman wet & dry lens cleaning tissues. Black Rapid over the shoulder long strap attached to the lens clamp is what I always use since I may walk 2 to 5 miles of trails some mornings. I also keep a Nikon Speedlight SB-5000 which I use for some volunteer photography of patrons.Feedback
I mostly keep the VR off and run higher shutter speeds. This image was shot wide open at 1/2000th of a sec. In some cases have found VR photos to be less sharp as it hunts to stabilize. If you choose to shoot lower shutter speeds the VR system does increase image stability and allows shooting about 3 speeds below min.
