Taking pictures of hummingbirds
Hi,
I tried to take pictures from hummingbirds in my yard.
I have set myself some requiremnets. I want the birds flying and the wings should show a very little movement.
I do not like to see them totally "dead"
I am using a Canon 40D, the 70-200 f/4 is lens on a tripod and the Canon remote. I set the camera first to AV and jack up the iso. Focus is set to center and I played with depth of field. Then I change the camera to TV, because the AV procedure did not satisfy me. In TV I change the iso to 1250 and set the time to 1/1000, which gave me a better result. Then I change the focus to 2 stops, which gave a close to what I want.
I like to hear your experience on this matter and the results you get.
Thanks. Ronny.
What do you mean change the focus to 2 stops?? when I shot humming birds I use a flash.
Perry
Loc: Washington Michigan
Hi Ronnie,
I have a point and shoot Nikon Coolpix L110.
When I take shots of humming birds, I put the camera in Sports Continuous Mode, and Hold the button down for about a second when I'm ready to shoot. My camera will dump several images on my disk during that time, and I keep the best looking one.
I am sure your camera is capable of that function too, isn't it? Try that and see if you like that method.
Humming bird1
Humming bird2
Hi Ronny-
One item that you will hear in this forum a lot is keep experimenting on the same shot if possible and even write down the parameters you used in each. I usually when reviewing my pics on the computer right click on the pic and look in properties and use that info. As you are aware Hummingbirds can be a challenge but when you get a good one rewarding. I live in a pretty extreme desert climate so rely on feeders not flowers to attract the hummingbirds so to an extent they are predictable when they are around....mainly early morning and about an hour before sunset. I just sit in a chair and have not used a tripod much since they go from feeder to feeder. I have not done anything to these pics yet in a software program to "clean" them up. Above all I am having fun and learning as I go.
Michael
I enjoyed your hummingbird pictures. It is very hard to get a picture without the wings appearing blurred. I tried four days and 200 tries before I got these pictures. Following are my camera setting technique:
Tripod
camera flash (flash helps freeze wing motion)
Canon 5D Mark 11
Shutter priority, shutter speed 1/500, f/5.6, ISO 2500, focal length 300mm
I cropped in PS and no other adjustments. One picture was taking at 7:30 AM and is backlighted by sun and other pictures was taken at 6:30 PM.
PhotoLiz
I got this one with my Rebel XTI using a 75-300 @ 75mm. ISO 800 Shutter 1/2000 f10. This got the silhouette because I put the setting sun behind the bird feeder. I had taken a few that day, but I think this one came out best.
Photo Liz ...very nice and hard to catch shots !
I too have to depend on feeders to lure in my hummingbirds. The advantage though is that I can set it near my window and sit on the other side with my camera on a tripod.
The first was shot from the sports auto mode on my Canon T3i. The second I shot after setting the iso to 200 and using a fast shutter speed.
I like them but they are no where near as good as the ones I've seen here.
Perry
Loc: Washington Michigan
Beautiful samples of your humming bird pics!!
Perry
Loc: Washington Michigan
I am speechless!
All those tries paid off with some extrordinary pics.
Awesome!!! :thumbup:
Perry
Loc: Washington Michigan
Very serene. :)
I wanted to submit some photographs for comment on of which is a humming bird.
thank you in advance for your input.
hummer in the yard
female cardinal in winter
floral still life
I think the cardinal in the snow is stunning. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you. I took best of show with the cardinal last December.
OK, so I've been practicing.....
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