# Humming Bird



## dicklaxt (Jun 2, 2005)

Okay I got these on a tripod at 20 feet full auto,camera in the shade,subject in full morning sun,cropped only.Now I'm ready to go to manual everything,,,,,,Okay Canon guys what is my start off settings.

Its been a long time so I have forgot all I knew which wasn't much.

dick


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

outdoors in sun, shoot in Aperture priority, F6 to F8, set ISO at 100, and let the camera choose the shutter speed. Use servo focus. Three's a couple I shot in this set doing it this way: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smopho/sets/72157624718332014/


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## dicklaxt (Jun 2, 2005)

Thanks I'll give it a try tomorrow morning under the same conditions.

dick


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## dicklaxt (Jun 2, 2005)

I think these are better,need some C&C

dick


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## Pocketfisherman (May 30, 2005)

Getting Better. It looks like the focus point on the first couple was on the feeder itself, in front of the birds because the feeder has higher contrast than the bird does against the background. Does your camera let you choose an AF point? If so, try to pick a point that will fall on the birds beak or tail, and not the moving wings. If not, you could manually prefocus on the plane where the feeding port is on the feeder and that should get the bird in focus too.


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## DeepBlueGulf (Jan 18, 2005)

When I'm wanting to shoot Hummers in my backyard, I'll set up a feeder to where the setting sun will shine over my shoulder and strongly on the feeder. I also block off all but one port so the bird can only be in one place. I tend to focus on the feeder, right about where the port is and I shoot as they come in, sit, and leave. I shoot in hi-speed continous, unless they are sitting for a while, then I'll wait to try to get pictures of them looking up or doing something interesting. I'll get some photos in focus, but most are out of focus. I take alot of pictures and toss alot, but manage to get some good ones too! BTW, I always use a tripod and usually a remote shutter control.

Tom - DBG


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## Law Dog (Jul 27, 2010)

Great Pictures, outstanding picture "Deepbluegulf"


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## MT Stringer (May 21, 2004)

Dick, your shutter speed is way too slow for ambient light shooting. And the pics are out of focus. I think you should prefocus on a particular spot on the feeder, put a piece of tape on the focus ring so it won't move and take a few shots. Av mode should work. Increase or decrease your ISO until you get a faster S/S such as 1/4000 sec.

A few examples can be seen here. Wow! Was it really 2007? Times really flies around here!

http://mtstringer.smugmug.com/Nature/Birds/2975860_ht4Tt#201592116_mb4xK


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## dicklaxt (Jun 2, 2005)

Focus is my nemesis,no matter whether its AF or M,thru the view finder they look good but the printed image is chit I agree.I wonder if it could be the eye surgery I have had in the past.I have lens implants in both eyes.

Its probably not that as I can sure tell agood image.

Thanks for the C&C and great shot Blue

dick


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## fishphoto (Mar 3, 2005)

The next step is to get a bunch of flashes together and use them to freeze the wings. The hummers are starting to show up in my back yard now, so I'll probably set everything up this weekend and see if I can get some decent shots this year. I took these the day after Ike came through.


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## dicklaxt (Jun 2, 2005)

I think I'll just give up this photo business...........

Great shots

dick


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## dicklaxt (Jun 2, 2005)

Brett,What are you doing here,, stacking images??????

The next step is to get a bunch of flashes together and use them to freeze the wings.

dick


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## fishphoto (Mar 3, 2005)

dicklaxt said:


> Brett,What are you doing here,, stacking images??????
> 
> The next step is to get a bunch of flashes together and use them to freeze the wings.
> 
> dick


No stacking, just regular exposures. The shutter in your camera, regardless of how fast it is set, is not fast enough to freeze the wings of a hummingbird. A flash can produce a burst of light that is much faster than your camera's shutter so that is the key to freezing the wings. If you dial a flash down to around 1/32 or 1/64 power (on manual setting), that burst of light is probably somewhere around 1/30,000s. The trick is to only expose your photo during that quick burst of light so you need to stop your lens way down. I typically shoot hummers at ISO100, f/16 and 1/125s. This will prevent me from getting any ambient exposure and only expose the flash. The small aperture also buys me some DOF so focus isn't as difficult. The problem with this is that when you dial the flashes down this much, they aren't putting out much light. To compensate for the low output (while maintaining a short burst of light) you need to use multiple flashes. The number will vary depending on how much ambient light you are shooting in. Exposing ambient light will result in "ghosting" which is a partial exposure that happens in addition to your flash exposure. You can see a little ghosting on one of the pics I posted around the wings and beak. If your feeders are in the shade, you probably won't need as many flashes. I shoot hummers in partial shade late in the day and typically use 6 flashes at a time. Another thing to consider is lighting the background. I do a little experimenting but get everything set in manual mode. Although I haven't had problems with it, I'm worried the preflash of TTL will scare the birds just enough to make them jump out of the frame or out of focus. Since you are not set to expose any ambient light, you'll need to consider adding a flash to a backdrop or else the background will be completely black. This is a matter of personal preference - I don't mind the black background but may experiment with backdrops this year.

It's pretty fun once you get everything set up. The downside is that you have to buy or borrow a bunch of flashes. I am triggering all of mine with IR but you could probably use cheap flashes and trigger them optically. There are a bunch of articles online that discuss hummingbird photography/lighting in depth.


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## dicklaxt (Jun 2, 2005)

Now thats a mouthful but your images back you up,thanks for the explanation and once again the pics are great.

I'd give up women if I could do that ,,,wait ,I have already given them up,now what>hwell:


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## DeepBlueGulf (Jan 18, 2005)

Brett,

That's a great explanation, sure makes sense! I doubt I could come up with more than four flashes, and I can't even imagine how to set them all up to work together. I'll look for the articles on the web, and then it sure sounds like a fun project for the next month while the hummers are here. May pm you for more information.

Thanks for sharing your photos, they are great!!

Tom


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## fishphoto (Mar 3, 2005)

DeepBlueGulf said:


> Brett,
> 
> That's a great explanation, sure makes sense! I doubt I could come up with more than four flashes, and I can't even imagine how to set them all up to work together. I'll look for the articles on the web, and then it sure sounds like a fun project for the next month while the hummers are here. May pm you for more information.
> 
> ...


You might be able to pull it off with four. I think five is the fewest I have used. I'll take some pics of the setup this weekend while I'm out shooting and post them.


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## DeepBlueGulf (Jan 18, 2005)

Thanks Brett! 

Dicklaxt... I have real problems focusing too, I have a clothespin with a chiquita banana sticker on it and I usually clip it to the feeder and take a few test shots of the sticker and review them at max magnification (in camera) until I get the focus exactly where I want it. Once it's set, I don't really plan on moving for a while. 

Tom - DeepBlueGulf


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