cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

Me, too. And who exactly is "HHH?"

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The Backlight option is good for situations where the subject is in normal light, but there is bright light behind it. That's a very difficult situation. Ordinarily, the camera will expose for the bright background light, but in Backlight, it will increase exposure so the subject looks okay.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It's UUU, one row down. : )

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Reading and understanding are two different things.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Great analogy. Just imagine there is a Photographer out there somewhere named John Coltrane!

ELNikkor

If the hummingbird is back-lit, have you tried using flash? Is there any way to move your humming bird feeder into the sun? Their wings beat so fast, you need a very high shutter speed to freeze the wings if you are not using a flash.

ToBoldlyGo Loc: London U.K.

What is HHH? Can people please not abbreviate everything, not everyone knows what these abbreviations mean.

marciamyers Loc: Georgetown, In.

I would suggest googling “Chelsea and Tony Northrup tutorial” for your particular camera.,....canon 5si or whatever it is. Having never done any photography, I purchased my first DSLR 6 mo. ago and found the manual overwhelmingly confusing.....the tutorial was at first also, but then I rewatched in smaller increments and found it very helpful. It may not answer all your questions, but it may clear up some things.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Betsy, it seems as if your problem is to learn using exposure compensation. It is available in any shooting mode except for manual although I have heard that some new cameras allow to use exposure compensation in the manual mode.
If you watch You Tube often and do a search there for EC I am sure you will find lots of information. There is lots of information on-line also and the instruction manual of your camera surely have a good explanation on it.
At times we fail to show sensitivity when trying to help someone but understand there is an excellent group of photographers in the forum willing to help and they are knowledgeable.
Do not get discouraged and ask questions that will improve on your photography. There will be always many of us that will be willing to help.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I had sent Betsy a pm also, prior to her mentioning wanting to shoot hummingbirds specifically.

Sadly we have lost far too many good people here because of "snarky" and lack of consideration for an OP's sincere request for help. Peterff suggested that UHH has become worse in this way over time, but I have two topics from early 2013 where I observed the rudeness of some members, or the simple ignorance/lack of consideration shown by irrelevant comments.

Peter suggested I myself have exhibited troll-bully traits recently but whatever negativity I express has been reaction to others' rudeness. I used to be more quiet, I suppose, because commenting like this is often only adding fuel to fires that refuse to extinguish.

And yes, I recognize the irony that I've now hijacked this topic by talking about these issues. But the OP herself said on page 1, "I will continue trying to figure it out on my own without some of the snarky answers I see here. I was hoping for some wise advice or suggestions. I'm disappointed."

It's probably a fact of life that internet forums are not going to work out for everyone, but I think it's still worth remembering that we all need to think about the value of our comments - especially to a new forum user or photographer - prior to posting. In particular, if an opening isn't clear, just move on to the next topic. There will be plenty of folks who come along who do know what is being asked - or think they do

berchman Loc: South Central PA

If you had explained that you were trying to photograph a hummingbird and the bird was coming out too dark, you would not have gotten any so-called snarky answers. Unless you light the bird with a speedlight (flash) what will happen is that either the bird will be too dark and the background just right or the background will be overexposed and the bird just right. So get yourself an inexpensive speedlight and mount it on your camera.

leftj Loc: Texas

He already said he has the dummies book.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

I shoot mostly in Program mode so I can change the shutter speed or aperture with the turn of a dial and the other will adjust accordingly. I'll use Auto-ISO indoors in low light. Flash is always in Manual mode.

Nikon1201

Do to YouTube , your answer is there

repleo Loc: Boston

Betsy,
The first thing is to realize that shooting hummingbirds is not a 'beginners' shot. They are demanding on both skills and equipment, but if you have a couple of regular visitors you should be able to get them with a bit of research, practice, patience and most of all - luck. Try this link for a basic primer - https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-photograph-hummingbirds/

I don't use Manual much, but this is one situation I would. You need a pretty short exposure like 1/000 to freeze the wings and use your widest aperture to isolate them from the background which means your focus needs to be fast and spot on. Use center metering and spot or center focus-continuous if possible. Let the ISO go to what it needs to get the shot but keep on eye on it. Adjust the aperture and shutter if it gets too high. You will also need a medium to long zoom lens to get close enough.

Using fill flash will help to balance the front and back lighting. Your in-built flash may be sufficient, but you will probably need an externel speedlight as already mentioned. Turn off 'red-eye' because the pre-flash will delay the exposure.

Obviuosly there is no way you are going to set this up in the few micro seconds you have to shoot the pesky things. Try to have your camera set up and ready to go beforehand. Take a couple of test shots with some sort of test object. Above all be patient. I was in Martinique this Spring. We had a stream of hummers visiting a feeder. I must have taken a 100 shots and only got one that I was satisfied with. Unfortunately, it was my first time with hummers and I wasn't prepared. I had to figure out all of the above as I shot.

Good luck.