Hummingbird

Gallery: AvianPosted September 10, 2011113 views5 comments

Female Ruby Throated Hummingbird. 9/10/11. Sugar Land TX. My backyard. I had about 10-12 hummers. Too fast and too aggressively chasing each other to really count them.

D3 ISO 1000. f 5.6 1/2500s -1.7ev. Natural Light. Natural background. Gizto tripod with Wimberly head.

The light had just come over my house to reach the feeder, but not into the deep woods behind it which were still in darkness and created this background. The -1.7 ev was strange, but the other dark areas were prefocused and when the hummer opened her wings the white was over exposed. I tried mutitple settings and this is what worked.

Part of the feeder was cloned out of the lower right corner.

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on September 10, 2011 at 1:08 PM

Good work with natural light - definitely a benefit from the high shutter speed resulting from the high ISO.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on September 10, 2011 at 5:37 PM

This is a great image Angela. Wonderful working with natural light. Your SS helped stop the wings, but you also caught this bird at just right moment when its wings were pretty much still on the transition point from back to foward movement. So, the wings are very sharp for a hummer without the aid of a strobe. Moreover, the bird's head and body are tack too. Great exposure overall. A really nice image. Well done.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on September 10, 2011 at 8:15 PM

Really cool Angela. I love the dark bg and frozen action. With the feet looking to land I almost wish for a lit up landing perch as well but would take this image in a heartbeat..

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Russell Colletta on September 10, 2011 at 11:25 PM

Wow! Would like to join with others commending you on the great use of natural light and perfect instant.

Registered on October 31, 2009, 114 Posts, 1008 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Leekam on September 12, 2011 at 3:43 PM

An extremely difficult shot very well done. You had the instant and you grabbed it.

Registered on May 28, 2009, 83 Posts, 646 Comments