nancysdoll

How do I capture a photo of a humming bird. I have a CanonG15.

Djack41 Loc: Tennessee

This is a method I use. Find a concentration of hummers. Put nectar in a target flower. Set camera in manual mode on a tripod. ISO 200, F16, 1/250 sec. Now set 3 or 4 flashes in manual mode at 1/16 power.

nancysdoll

WOW these are amazing pictures. How do I set the flash. I am not to familiar to my camera.

nancysdoll

WOW these are amazing pictures. How do I set the flash. I am not to familiar to my camera.

Djack41 Loc: Tennessee

set the flashes at 45 degrees and 24" from the subject. Also, set a flash to illuminate the background. Adjust exposure by moving the flashes in and out. Good luck.

GlassEye Loc: Franklin WI

You could try this too. First set your camera to 'Aperture Priority". Set your ISO to 1000, lens to f8.0 and depending on what type of lighting you're working with you're shutter speed should be around 1/500. Use a short tele if you have one. If you have enough time, crank out as many exposures as possible of your subject. For me the idea is to use as little equipment and Photoshop time as possible and still come up with the results I'm looking for. Hope this helps and good shooting.

Hummingbird Moth

RGreenway Loc: Morristown, New Jersey

What focal lens do you recommend? Macro? I have a different camera and can switch to different lenses. A 200 mm from minimum focus setting was too far a way but I was afraid of getting really close w a 50mm and perhaps extension tubes.....

GlassEye Loc: Franklin WI

Nothing fancy. As I recall I was sitting on our balcony about six feet from our potted flowers using a Nikon 55-200mm f4-5.6 tele zoom. It's just one of those lucky times and I happened to be there. Does this help?

CatMarley Loc: North Carolina

A tele zoom 50 - 200 is perfect. You have to stay far enough away from the birds. Use about an f8, otherwise the focal depth is going to have the bird out of focus most of the time The birds are so tiny, you need about a 200 mm lens.

Djack41 Loc: Tennessee

Flash allows you to freeze the bird and shoot a small aperture to gain sharp focus.

In natural light, you might try auto ISO combined with a small aperture to get sharp focus.

nancysdoll

Thank you everyone.Every bit of information Is much appreciated.Now all I have to do is learn how to set my camera setting. Oh and to get my little hummer to cooperate.

billc987

You do not need a fancy setup to photograph hummingbirds. You need patience, planning and a little luck. My preferred lens is Nikon 28-105 in macro mode on a Nikon D600. I use a remote trigger so I can set up the photo I want and then sit back from the camera. I try to use natural light whenever possible but I do use a white reflector (a scrap of gator board) to add light to the underside of the bird.. I use nectar to get the birds to feed where I set up, but sometimes I know what flower the bird wants to feed on and it is not needed. My advice: Keep your setup simple and remember there is no single way for everyone. Try different things and see what works for you. The photo posted was taken without the flower baited and with the camera 10 inches from the bird. ISO 1000, shutter 1250th apt f/8

(Download)

Djack41 Loc: Tennessee

:thumbup: :thumbup:

jack1000

Wow! These are amazing images.

I purchased an Sony A7ii serval months ago. I bought it with a 28-70mm kit lens and an adapter so I can use some old 1960s vintage 35mm film lenses my son in law gave me.

The image that stops the wings was taken with a 75-300mm Vivitar Macro Focusing Zoom, available on line for around $50. I'm just playing with this lens until I figure out what good zoom lens I need to buy to take advantage of the cameras autofocusing capability.

I shot the image that stops the wings at 1/8000, f-8, ISO 4000, zoomed to 300mm and an internal 2X Zoom setting from a distance of a bout 20 feet. I can stop the wings, but don't get anywhere close to the brilliant images you have.

I shot the other image with the kit lens with flash and the internal zoom set at 2X. The fastest exposure time I can get is 1/250 with flash, which is not fast enough to stop the wings.

Could you please tell me how you were able to stop the wings with flash. I can't do it at 1/250. I've done a little research and understand that the flash duration need to be around 8-10 microseconds in order to stop the wings during the mid cycle.

Congratulations for some fantastic images. Any advice you could provide would be very much appreciated.

(Download)


(Download)

Djack41 Loc: Tennessee

That is a great question, Jack. The solution is quite easy.

A flash at full power will pulse light at 1/750 to 1/1000 of a second. The duration of the flash is too long to freeze the wings of a hummer which are beating at 30-40 beats per second.

So, shoot your flash in manual mode at 1/16 power. This will reduce the duration of the pulse to about 1/16000 of a second. This is plenty fast to freeze the subject.

Also, at such a low power setting, the flash will fire rapidly so set the camera to shoot a high frame rate. You will get many throw away images because you can not time the position of the wings. A few will capture the bird in pleasing poses.

Place the flash close to the subject since the light falls off rapidly (2ft or less). Adjust exposure by moving the flash a few inches (inverse square rule).

I use 4 flashes to provide even illumination but even one flash can produce nice images.

With flash, you can maintain a low ISO and shoot at F16 for good depth of field. Shutter speed at 1/250-1/400 sec. I shoot a 200mm lens.

Shoot for a few minutes and then let them feed. They come right back. Also, shoot in the shade. Good luck.