I haven't taken any hummer shot since my trip to Arizona in Aug. and this is
my longest dry spell as far as my hummer shoots are concerned. For the last
several days, I noticed that this hummer came up to me pretty close,staring at me.
It's not because the feeder was empty and he wanted some food but because I felt
he wanted some attention from me as if he was asking me "Hey! Do you remember me?"
And I realized that this hummer is the same one that I saw this
past summer. Back then,it was just a juvenile male hummer and his gorget hadn't
fully developed,yet. Now he's a young adult with a fully dveloped gorget.
To my surprise, he was hovering around the flower and the feeder for a good a few
minutes and he did it over and over again. I know it takes them a lot of energy to do that
and this one just doesn't care about the flashes. And I can tell this is not
their father( sorry dad ) because this one is fearless and full of energy. Maybe
he tooks a 5 hour energy drink.
5 flashes with a diffuser on each flash,including a Demb's flip-it.
WOW, great shots. Good use of a beautifully colored background to really make the birds and flower pop off the screen. Excellent flash work to freeze the wings.
#5 is my fav. The poses and of course, the lighting is phenomenal on these. I was looking at a Hummer 2009 calendar at the store today and these shots are way better.
Congratulations - - I'm sad, since the fires we've had a drastic reduction in hummers & it makes me sad. We used to have so many, now we only seem to have a few.....
Lil - - as usual taking a break from what I should be doing.
danjacquitaylo wrote:
Fantastica shots Hide. You are the hummeister
dan
Thank you, dan. I felt like I neglected them for a while and I paid my attention to
them and it paid off.
Hide
Shane F wrote:
WOW, great shots. Good use of a beautifully colored background to really make the birds and flower pop off the screen. Excellent flash work to freeze the wings.
Thank you, Shane. This BG is a print and I blurred the image with PS to a point where it became an almost mono tone color.
Hide
mark fadely wrote:
Fantastic work Hide,
#5 is my fav. The poses and of course, the lighting is phenomenal on these. I was looking at a Hummer 2009 calendar at the store today and these shots are way better.
My hummer shots are better those you saw in a Hummer calendar? Wow!
Thank you for your kind words, Mark.
Hide
Lil Judd wrote:
Stunning shots Hide
Congratulations - - I'm sad, since the fires we've had a drastic reduction in hummers & it makes me sad. We used to have so many, now we only seem to have a few.....
Lil - - as usual taking a break from what I should be doing.
Thank you, Lil. I just can't imagine what that fire storms did to the wildlife in your area. But I'm sure you'll begin to see some wildlife coming back gradually. It'll take time and I think that the nature has already started working to restore the damage caused by the fires.
I have never seen the gorget to the side like that? Is this a very different species than you have shown us? Man those are truly spectacular. Wonderful work and I think we all are in agreeance with those comments. AB!
surfnron wrote:
They are all hummmm....dingers ~ Ron
Thanks,Ron. They are all humming and beautiful.
Hide
72chevelle454 wrote:
+1
Fantastic job.... Attta boy
Thank you, sir. But I also owe to my hummer friend for being cooperative.
Hide
bklim wrote:
Humming bird.... always my amazing bird..nice shot
They are amazing birds,indeed. And I haven't seen more exotic South American species,yet.
Hide
Keith R wrote:
Nice shooting Hide, luv the shots where you got his gorget to light up, gorgeous
Hello,Keith. How are you doing? My hummer shots have improved a lot over the past years but it's not up to the same level as yours. You are turely the master of hummingbirds.
Hide
Hungtran10 wrote:
cool shots. could you explain more how you positioned your flashes.
- hung
Hi,Hung. First of all, I've learnt a lof of things from Keith Rankin,the master of hummingbirds. He's written a good instruction about hummingbird flash photography.
I read his instructions and I decided to go for 5 flashes.
2 flashes on both sides of your camera at 45 degrees and at about 20 ich. from
the flower. Both flashes are set at about 15 degrees above the line from the flower.
These two flashes will cast a shadow on the hummer's belly or throat area ,so the
3rd flash or the belly flash,is set under the flower at about 30 inc. from the flower.
This flash could be right under the lens or near that line,aligned with your lens.
The 4th one is an overhead flash. This one is a bit behind the flower set at about 25-30 inc. above the flower.
And the last one is for the background. Whether you'll need 5 flashes or 6 flashes,depends on how many flashes
you'll need for the background. If you use 2 flashes for the BG,then you won't have to worry about the light fall off on the BG.
Since I use one flash for the BG, I sometimes see the light fall off on the BG.
You want to set either a flower or a feeder's hole at an angle so that a hummer turn his face toward you. I mean..hopefully.
This way, you'll have a better chance to see the hummer's iridescent gorget color.
Hide
Karl Witt wrote:
Hide
I have never seen the gorget to the side like that? Is this a very different species than you have shown us? Man those are truly spectacular. Wonderful work and I think we all are in agreeance with those comments. AB!
Karl
Thank you, karl.
I think I've shown the same hummer before but at that time this hummer was not
fully grown. This is a Costa's,common hummingbird in CA,especially in So.CA.
This one has unmistakable extended gorget and a full-grown male Costa's is a beautiful hummer.
Hide
floris wrote:
Excellent! I love the pose in #1, very delicate and natural, #6 is just funny - like he's stretching mid flap!
We used to have so many, now we only seem to have a few.....
I felt like I neglected them for a while and I paid my attention to
