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07/05/2005 11:03:07 AM · #1 |
I've long wanted to get some decent shots of hummingbirds. I gotta tell ya, it's harder than one might expect -- even with a "giant bird trap". (this is the first time I've ever been near a feeder and I was amazed at how often the birds kept coming back)
I learned a few things...
- 1/400th of a second does NOT freeze the wings.
- A shallow DOF works well to separate them from a busy background
- A big lens helps, but you still gotta get in close
- Shoulda kept shooting and experimenting! (but family got impatient with me)
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07/05/2005 11:05:09 AM · #2 |
I've never tried shooting hummingbirds but can imagine how difficult it is. You've got some good captures though they appear to be slightly over sharpened.
Keep experimenting. Did you try burst mode?
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07/05/2005 11:26:32 AM · #3 |
I know my camera isn't a 20D but I think my experience will help. I used a fill flash and 1/800 speed, that seemed to slow the wings down somewhat but not totally blur them. Also focused on the feeding tube then set the camera on manual focus so the shutter release would be as fast as I pressed the shutter button. This I suppose doesn't apply to a DSLR. I found that 1200 shutter speed up would basically freeze the wings.I got hundreds of pictures that day and I admit I wasn't in the party very much, but they all were amazed because I would keep showing them updates as I got more pictures. Now some of them have photos hanging on their walls of my Hummingbirds.
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07/05/2005 12:04:25 PM · #4 |
 
these were shot with my coolpix 4500 last year and shutter was about 1/1000. I can't use fill flash cuz I shoot through my bay window. :-P The shutter lag was hell but once I got my DSLR things were much more fun!! I'll post some taken with my D70 tonite.
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07/05/2005 01:00:09 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by jmritz:
Also focused on the feeding tube then set the camera on manual focus |
I think this would have helped a lot... not for the shooting speed (with DSLR), but for getting better focus. I had a tripod with me but didn't use it. In retrospect, setting up the tripod and then setting focus manually I think I could have done better.
I had been up to this same cabin before and tried to shoot the hummingbirds "in the wild", so to speak (basically as they were flitting from one flower to another). Never got anything worth looking at. This year they had a bird feeder and that helped make the bird's position predictable. But then you get this ugly red feeder in there...
My best composition of a bird was as it was flying away from the feeder. Unfortunately, it is too out of focus.
Next time! |
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07/05/2005 01:46:53 PM · #6 |
I've had some good results with hummingbirds after a lot of trial and error shooting. They are very brave little birds and will sometimes fly right up to my face as if to check me out! I set up a tripod within 5 feet of a feeder (or a flowering area at which I know they are feeding) and leave it there for a few hours before I wish to shoot, just to acclimate the birds to that object. When I stand behind the tripod, I try to mimic its shape. For setup, I use a little fake "bird", with which to set my exposures. I use manual focus and unless I am experiencing high direct sunlight, I usually shoot at ASA100, f4.5, use a flash and a shutter speed between 1/350 and 1/1000. Of course the faster speed will stop the wings, but the flash can also stop the wings as well. When using a feeder as bait, I aim at a one foot target "box" just away from the feeder and attempt the capture when the bird is inside that "box", thus avoiding a feeder in the shot. Then I later clone the best results into other shots of flowers as in this example or as in this one.
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07/05/2005 02:18:42 PM · #7 |
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07/05/2005 03:01:03 PM · #8 |
| JB Smith Is relatively new to DPC and has been shooting well out of the gate. For my money he has taken some of the best and most beautiful bird photos on the site. Check him out and also check out the humming (and other) birds in his bird portfolio. |
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