I found a hummingbird nest in my front yard.

[hmongstang]

I already have two local photographer offer $150 to spend a day on the tree to photograph my bird. what do you guys think? LOL joking






Im thinking about getting on the tree (15ft)and secure myself to the tree with a climb belt (the one where electrician use for phone pole) and spend a few hours with the bird. what's the best ISO/aperture/time to photography this jetpack birdy? The couple are very colorful and beautiful, i cant let this opportunity pass.

[sweetlu60]

Although you want to get a close up of the birds, I recommend staying away from them, so that you do not lead any predators toward them. I would recommend setting up a hummingbird feeder or some natural hummingbird types of flowering plants and set up to take pictures of them away from the nest. If you absolutely have to have nest pictures, then get a longer lens and move away from them. The babies will be fairly drab, but you can get some good behavioral shots. The other thing about being too close is that you may force the mother to abandon the nest, which would not be good.

As for taking the actual shot, you will have to experiment, unless you want to set up for some really good shots, that will require the use of 4 to 6 or more flash units. You can try setting your camera on ISO1600 and shooting your lens as wide open as possible to get the wings to freeze, but the flash method is often better.

Good luck, I typically have two to three nests in my yard each year, but I live in the desert and the plants are a little lower to the ground where they nest, and I have a 600 and teleconverter, so I can stay away from them, I do not even bother the nest with flash units though.

[BirdBoy]

Originally Posted by sweetlu60

As for taking the actual shot, you will have to experiment, unless you want to set up for some really good shots, that will require the use of 4 to 6 or more flash units.

You do not need 4 to 6 flash units to get really good shots. A bit overkill IMO. You can get perfectly fine shots with a single off camera flash.

I have tried flash photography on hummingbirds and actually prefer not to use one to give it a more natural look.

For flight shots I like to stay around ISO 400 f/5.6 - f8 and a shutter speed of 1/250th- 1/500th
If the bird is perched then I will lower my ISO to around 100-200 depending on light.

Anna's Hummingbird


Rufous Hummingbird