humming birds - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

08/18/2004 04:15:00 AM · #1

been trying to get a few humming bird shots before they move on for the season. succeeded yessterday morning in getting some decent stop action flight shots. they look good printed 7x10.5. in the 2nd shot you can see the veins in the tail feathers. in the 1st the edges of the back featers, and the detail in the stationary one is pretty good over all.

lighting is the toughest thing - trying to get 1/800th or higher even in miday sun is difficult - and you have to distrust the meter reading.

tripod mounted - set to allow horizontal movement. i was about 8' away.

Message edited by author 2004-08-18 08:16:15.

cghubbell

Nikon D300

08/18/2004 04:23:19 AM · #2

Hummingbirds ae absolutely amazing. Did you just happen to have a long lens and tripod standing by (never happens for me!), or did you set up knowing the bird would come?

Message edited by author 2004-08-18 08:23:31.

Marjo

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

08/18/2004 05:18:03 AM · #3

Those look great! I've been trying all season. I even cut out a section of my screen and put a velcro flap up...looks real tacky...good thing I have a supportive husband...lol. Anyway, I've tried every setting possible and all combinations of lighting. They are just fast! When I get one sitting still, I get too wrapped up in watching them. They are so fascinating. I was taking some photos for botany and one actually went between the lens and the subject. Usually, they take off when I approach with my camera. Surprised me so much, I missed the shot! Too close to get a focus anyway.

08/18/2004 07:27:24 AM · #4

thanks ;}

we have a gladiola garden on the edge of our front yard.
i noticed at the sunflowers they were coming and feeding - and decided to sit by the glads for a bit, and sure enough - they feed there too.

if you watch them for a bit - you'll see they come back almost like clockwork. and if you sit still they will come right up close. patience is needed - took me roughly 2.5 hours to get 7 useable shots, and only a couple in flight shots. i just brought my coffee, and cigarettes out side with me, and sat on a camping chair, and listened for the wings. in the meantime i tried to capture flying bumble bees - but they are kind of small for the distance i was away.

i was close enough that a 10.5x7" print they are larger than lifsize.

at one point one of them hovered like 2 feet over my head - checking me out - it was too close for the lense to foucs on... i also saw a monarch butterfly come by for a snack - but before it could land a humming bird came by and attacked it - and drove it off. they are viscious - and will even fight their own off spring for food.

mission accomplished - thanks for looking.

Message edited by author 2004-08-18 15:27:16.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

08/18/2004 07:29:14 AM · #5

my shot specs are listed under the image details.
i over exposed according to meter - about 2/3 a stop - and still had to dodge the birds themselves a tad - was trying to compromise the flowers and the birds with the exposure - i think i did a decent job.

going to put them up for prints tonight if i get time.

Bungler

Canon EOS-450D Rebel XSi

08/18/2004 07:39:21 AM · #6

Very Nice! I'm well jealous that you have thes photogenic little birds right in your yard. I have had a go at shooting sunbirds (with the camera of course...) while back in Zimbabwe recently but they are very wary of people and seemed to know exactly when I was pressing the shutter button, zipping away at blinding speeds.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

08/18/2004 07:47:20 AM · #7

well - in northern vermont - they tend only to be around for a couple months - then it gets frigid - and there are few if any birds around at all...

we have a decent sized yard 1 acre mowed - 2 acres not mowed - and plenty of overgrown field around us - so there is lots of safe places for animals to shelter. if you can get them to feed at your place - they will keep coming back to breed year after year.

in Connecticut - my mom has to fill her humming bird feeder every other day - and there may be 6-8 fighting for it at a time. they'll come swoop at her when it gets empty so she'll get on refilling it. she's had the feeder out in the summer for a decade or so - and this is my first year with our new yard ;} hopefully there will be more of them next year.

Bungler

Canon EOS-450D Rebel XSi

08/18/2004 07:51:21 AM · #8

I too have left half my garden un-tended and placed feeders of all kinds in the shrubs, but the bird-life in Ireland is very sparse compared to what I took for granted in Africa.

Question: What do you put in the humming bird feeder?

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

08/18/2004 08:23:29 AM · #9

i boil 2 cups of water - and add 1/4 cup of sugar. ( it can't be artificial sugar - that will kill them ) and i dont add red dye like the instructions say. then let it cool before i hang it up.

every other time i refill - i boil all the feeder parts to kill mold, and mildew - they are picky about that - and won't feed if there is any slight contamination.

there is only one species of humming bird in my area.

most of the activity, though is around the flowers.

Marjo

Canon EOS-7D

08/18/2004 08:34:27 AM · #10

Thought I'd post this one. Looks like a baby.

I mix and boil like you do, but all the books I've read recommend a 4:1 ratio. ?? 4 cups Water to 1 cup sugar.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

08/18/2004 08:37:34 AM · #11

it may be a 1/2 cup that i use - i am not exactly scientific about it.

thats sounds right though.

looks like a baby. i think the adults migrate before the kids - something i read a couple days ago.

Bungler

Canon EOS-450D Rebel XSi

08/18/2004 01:31:49 PM · #12

Shows I need to read up on these things...! I tried normal sugar with no result and have just read on an Irish site that there are no humming birds in Ireland! They say that all reported sitings must be hawk-moths?!?!
Oh well, it's back to the bugs for now...

08/18/2004 02:50:33 PM · #13

find out what hawk moths eat i guess ;}
never seen one of those before.

08/18/2004 03:18:10 PM · #14

The normal nectar recipe is 1:4 - 1 cup of sugar for every 4 cups of water. You do not need to boil the mixture. I just use warm water to mix it up and then refrigerate it. And as soup noted do not use food coloring or etc to color the water.

This is the recipe from Lanny Chambers at Hummingbirds.net:

Recipe for artificial nectar (syrup):

Use one part ordinary white cane sugar to four parts water.

Boil the water if you wish, but it's not necessary. The microorganisms that cause fermentation don't come from the water; they are transported to the feeder on hummingbird bills.

Store unused syrup in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

This mixture approximates the average sucrose content (about 21%) of the flowers favored by North American hummingbirds, without being so sweet it attracts too many insects.

And for cleaning the feeders you can just use a mild bleach solution to rinse them out about once a week or so. Just be sure to rinse the feeders in hot water everytime you fill them.

End Quote:

Adult males migrate as early as July in the Texas area where I live (Per Lanny Chambers - Hummingbirds.net). They mate in late spring and early summer. The male that I caught a shot of the other day was proabaly migrating from the north. Check out my shot in this thread:

Hummingbirds - Tiny Female with a big attidue

Originally posted by soup:

it may be a 1/2 cup that i use - i am not exactly scientific about it.

thats sounds right though.

looks like a baby. i think the adults migrate before the kids - something i read a couple days ago.

Dim7

Canon EOS R

Canon EF 24-70 2.8L II

08/18/2004 03:52:44 PM · #15

Originally posted by Marjo:

Thought I'd post this one. Looks like a baby.

I mix and boil like you do, but all the books I've read recommend a 4:1 ratio. ?? 4 cups Water to 1 cup sugar.

Marjo is right and I go just a little sweeter and they like it! Soup you sure are right about the neat sound their wings make, I usually hear them before I see them,Great shots and they leave here mid September as soon as the temperature gets close to freezing at night

Message edited by author 2004-08-20 19:45:48.

08/18/2004 04:41:14 PM · #16

I love taking pictures of hummingbirds. I have 5 feeders in my back yard. Here are some of the pictures I have taken that I have used in DPC contests.

08/18/2004 04:51:28 PM · #17

nice shots - you sure about the shutter for the 1st one you posted?

you definatley have to wait around for them...

08/18/2004 04:58:27 PM · #18

I know it seems as if the shutter speed is slow in order to catch the wings almost motionless like that but I used the Manuel shutter speed setting along with the flash from about 3 feet away. Its as if the camera caught the wings just at the apex of their flutter. I couldn't believe it myself when I saw it.

08/18/2004 05:07:52 PM · #19

maybe it was the flash that helped, or maybe it was the change in direction...?

i've barely stopped them at 1/3200th recently

i read today, and saw a shot that supposedly was at 1/180th and had stop motion in the wings. even so - with the wings moving, so are they, and i'd think a faster shutter would help a lot with getting a crisper shot of the bird overall.

i try to use manual mode as much as possible - seems to make the adjustments quicker, and more controlable. manual focus mainly too.

08/18/2004 05:16:22 PM · #20

The Hummers never cease to amaze me. I will forever be trying to take the perfect picture of them. An impossible task!!

08/18/2004 05:21:59 PM · #21

I like your shot of the male.

Originally posted by lnede:

The adult males are sometimes hard to catch. Around this area (Texas) I'm told they start migrating as early as July right after mating. Lanny Chambers at hummingbirds.net told me that most of the hummingbirds spotted in this area now are just the young new borns.

I used 1/1000 sec on this shot and it still did not stop the action of the young hummingbirds wings.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

08/18/2004 05:26:08 PM · #22

Thanks Robin,
You are right the male hummers are more difficult to capture. They seem to be more timid. Your shot of the female is outstanding. I like the DOF. The colors seem very natural.

dwterry

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

08/18/2004 05:30:25 PM · #23

For a long time now, I've wanted to get a picture of a humming bird. There just aren't many around here (well, maybe there would be more if I bought a bird feeder, huh?!?). In any case, I finally got one. Woohoo!!!

08/18/2004 05:36:24 PM · #24

Thanks

Not sure if it is a female though. That shot was taken on July 26th so it may not have been very old. Notice there is very little colorization in that hummer even with the green on the back. The young hummingbirds I'am told all look the same. I caught this shot a few days ago just after I got my camera back and you can just see the red appearing on this hummers chest(circled).

Originally posted by lnede:

Thanks Robin,
You are right the male hummers are more difficult to capture. They seem to be more timid. Your shot of the female is outstanding. I like the DOF. The colors seem very natural.