Personally for me, and I am not a professional, I prefer shooting in the shade with a fill flash on sunny days. Or on a cloudy day, if I'm doing close ups, I'll use a fill. I also have the T3i. I use my flash with a cord off camera, sometimes I bounce it off a reflector back on my subject.

If you are shooting in the sun without any hint of shade, you may try a diffuser to help that is if you have someone that can hold it over the heads of your subject. This will help so the harsh sun doesn't shine directly down on the top of the subjects' head which throws shadows on their face. However, if you do this, you may have to use a reflector (maybe white foam core board) underneath their chin to help with shadows as well. It will help to throw some light back up on their faces. Their are many professional photographers on this forum that will tell you the proper way to handle your situation, but this is what I would do. I can post a photo or two that I've taken if you would like to see what I'm talking about. I hope this helps a bit. Cheryl

Adorable, wouldn't you like to know the back story on them. I sure would, wish I could get a capture like these. Thanks for sharing, even if they are yours, I like them. Cheryl

My favorite is the last photo as well. Cheryl

I like them and agree, white against any colored background gives me trouble. Unless the background is pale in color similar to white. I photographed white roses, very difficult at least for me. But, you did a nice job. Cheryl

I never tire of sunrises or sunsets, no two are alike. Keep shooting and posting them, I love it. Cheryl

No...never sick of hummingbirds ...lol Didn't you get a new feeder? Someone did, I am thinking it may have been you? I love the reflection of red light on the birds. I need to post some photos. Great job. Cheryl

thank you all for your replies. I love hummingbirds, just wish I didn't have to use a high ISO like 800 to capture them in flight. I'm going to try ISO 400 or ISO 200 to see what happens. I'll post my attempts later. Again, Thanks, Cheryl

It is a beautiful shot, powerful and scary too. Cheryl

Dave, I have one little plant that looks very much the same with the "sort of hole" in the center. Mine has about 6 blossoms on the plant which is small. The little flower is pink and about 1" big. Does this sound like yours? Anyway, very nice photo. Cheryl

These are very interesting photos. Cool. Cheryl

Thank you. I pretty much set my Canon T3i on a tripod, use a remote and 580EX II flash. I put it on ISO 800, and try to use a shutter speed of 1/800 or 1/1000, if the flash is not used. If the flash is used, it fires automatically at 1/200. Nornally, the f-stop is around f8 or f5.6. I also played around with -1 exposure which gives the photo a deeper color and not so bright. As you can see, I'm definitely experimenting and haven't settled on a fail-safe setting for all situations.

But, the thing I don't like is the grainy look the background gets. Is that because I am using a high ISO? thanks for your comments Cheryl

This is awesome, how did you capture it? I love it. Cheryl

Yes, it is pretty amazing that they can get such clear images back from a place so far away. Thanks for sharing. Cheryl

I love HDR and sunsets. So, I really like these photos. Cheryl

I love the capture. They look like they are mad at eachother. It's not easy getting them in flight. Good job. Cheryl