Hummingbirds-Attempt #2

This is my second real attempt at hummingbirds. I made myself a blind out of sheets and basically staked them out all day. They appearently did not like the nectar I made this time because 4 hours of watching yielded ~30 pictures. These are the ones I deemed "above par," however they aren't even close to some of the other ones I see on here. Critique is welcome, I'd love to improve.

1. ISO 400 f/5.6 1/1250 sec 200mm

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/61875474@N06/6​094072922/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/61875474@N06/6​093345371/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/61875474@N06/6​095735332/

Hey, don't knock that last one! It is away from the feeder and you stopped the action quite well. Since your EXIF is not available for us to see why don't you post it for us.
Keep up the good work.

Diamond Lil wrote in post #13022383
Hey, don't knock that last one! It is away from the feeder and you stopped the action quite well. Since your EXIF is not available for us to see why don't you post it for us.
Keep up the good work.

I typed the ISO, aperture, shutter speed, and focal length right before each picture, I guess that isn't the norm. If you want anything more extensive than that I can post it at your request.

I haven't quite figured out how to get my camera to focus on them in flight, so far I have just been focusing on the feeder and hoping they are close enough. In the one you reference I just cropped the feeder out and the bird happened to be in the right plane.

imsellingmyfoot wrote in post #13022422
I typed the ISO, aperture, shutter speed, and focal length right before each picture, I guess that isn't the norm. If you want anything more extensive than that I can post it at your request.

I haven't quite figured out how to get my camera to focus on them in flight, so far I have just been focusing on the feeder and hoping they are close enough. In the one you reference I just cropped the feeder out and the bird happened to be in the right plane.

No, I was very tired when posting last night. My oversight. Sorry about that.

Take some time when out here and look through the Bird Talk section. This is a great resource: Jim Neiger, Birds in Flight focusing techniques:
A top birder explains how to keep those fast flying birds in focus and more!
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/...09#po​st5704309

I'm no pro and have attempted hummingbird photography for the first time this summer, but I have learned a few things along the way. I tend to shoot at either 1/3200 or 1/4000 second. It is part of the reason my backgrounds are darker than most, but it sure helps stop the action. Aperture is always wide open. ISO is set between 400 - 800 depending on the light conditions.

You may want to consider giving a couple of techniques a try that work for me. First, through the lens watch your birds at the feeder. You'll see they have a pattern. They come toward the feeder, find a port, feed, and move. The move will be away from the port for a moment and then back to the feeder, to another port or totally away from the feeder. Once you get a sense of your birds behavior, begin to time each event. After that, as you begin to gain insight into their behavior, watch their heads and necks during each. You gain clues as to when they are going to do something. Learning the bird is one of the most powerful tools we have.

The other important technique is bump focusing as described by Jim Neiger. Find a place near where the bird will be that is approximately the same distance and focus upon it. Then, let's say you are waiting for the bird to pop up away from a port, keep depressing the shutter just to let AF kick in. You may want to focus on the wing because the body will be out that way in a second or so. When the bird moves, you are near on the mark.

Lastly, have fun! You'll be so excited when you get the shot you want. I look forward to seeing more.

I think the last shot is very nice, light, detail and background all work. I have to agree with my friend Lil above and disagree, so practice and find what works for you. Hummingbirds are different than any other, as Lil says they go back and forth from the feeder, I have found that when they come back away from the feeder about 80% of the time they come right back to the same or very close spot. I will focus right on the the tube they are feeding at then move straight back from that port 6-9" and wait for them to back up it may take a brief second for AF to pick him up, set on high speed and shoot away. You have to be ready and have all your settings ready to go. If you watch them they almost always back up to the same spot, straight back because they have to go straight in to feed, thats where you want to be ready to shoot at, right where it backs up to and stops, I am also assuming you are using a tripod, with a good swivel set up, if not that helps. As far as speed and settings to me f/8 is a must, as low an iso as I can get, 200 is what I want. So with those settings, shooting in manual too, I have much slower shutter speeds than Lil mainly because I try to always shoot at f/8, iso 200, really limits my speed, but I will only rarely get the beautiful stop wing shots that she does. So I hope my little part has help and not confused you, learn to shoot in manual, you may miss some shots because of light but you will get some good ones too. You can try all kinds of settings to give you a well exposed shot, find which you like. As far a nectar, I use 1 part sugar to 3 parts water, I had 1 feeder of that close to a feeder with the red packaged stuff, the bees liked it red but the Hummers prefer my mix. Longer glass helps too but thats for another day, you will see.
To copy Lil, have fun, I look forward to more. It is really a thrill to watch Hummers defending their territory, great stuff.

Diamond Lil wrote in post #13023655
No, I was very tired when posting last night. My oversight. Sorry about that.

Take some time when out here and look through the Bird Talk section. This is a great resource: Jim Neiger, Birds in Flight focusing techniques:
A top birder explains how to keep those fast flying birds in focus and more!
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/...09#po​st5704309

I'm no pro and have attempted hummingbird photography for the first time this summer, but I have learned a few things along the way. I tend to shoot at either 1/3200 or 1/4000 second. It is part of the reason my backgrounds are darker than most, but it sure helps stop the action. Aperture is always wide open. ISO is set between 400 - 800 depending on the light conditions.

You may want to consider giving a couple of techniques a try that work for me. First, through the lens watch your birds at the feeder. You'll see they have a pattern. They come toward the feeder, find a port, feed, and move. The move will be away from the port for a moment and then back to the feeder, to another port or totally away from the feeder. Once you get a sense of your birds behavior, begin to time each event. After that, as you begin to gain insight into their behavior, watch their heads and necks during each. You gain clues as to when they are going to do something. Learning the bird is one of the most powerful tools we have.

The other important technique is bump focusing as described by Jim Neiger. Find a place near where the bird will be that is approximately the same distance and focus upon it. Then, let's say you are waiting for the bird to pop up away from a port, keep depressing the shutter just to let AF kick in. You may want to focus on the wing because the body will be out that way in a second or so. When the bird moves, you are near on the mark.

Lastly, have fun! You'll be so excited when you get the shot you want. I look forward to seeing more.

Thank you very much for the link and then your own descriptions. I gave them a try today and after two hours outside I only had one bird visit once and I missed focus for the series... Better luck next time.

BGgraphy wrote in post #13026432
I think the last shot is very nice, light, detail and background all work. I have to agree with my friend Lil above and disagree, so practice and find what works for you. Hummingbirds are different than any other, as Lil says they go back and forth from the feeder, I have found that when they come back away from the feeder about 80% of the time they come right back to the same or very close spot. I will focus right on the the tube they are feeding at then move straight back from that port 6-9" and wait for them to back up it may take a brief second for AF to pick him up, set on high speed and shoot away. You have to be ready and have all your settings ready to go. If you watch them they almost always back up to the same spot, straight back because they have to go straight in to feed, thats where you want to be ready to shoot at, right where it backs up to and stops, I am also assuming you are using a tripod, with a good swivel set up, if not that helps. As far as speed and settings to me f/8 is a must, as low an iso as I can get, 200 is what I want. So with those settings, shooting in manual too, I have much slower shutter speeds than Lil mainly because I try to always shoot at f/8, iso 200, really limits my speed, but I will only rarely get the beautiful stop wing shots that she does. So I hope my little part has help and not confused you, learn to shoot in manual, you may miss some shots because of light but you will get some good ones too. You can try all kinds of settings to give you a well exposed shot, find which you like. As far a nectar, I use 1 part sugar to 3 parts water, I had 1 feeder of that close to a feeder with the red packaged stuff, the bees liked it red but the Hummers prefer my mix. Longer glass helps too but thats for another day, you will see.
To copy Lil, have fun, I look forward to more. It is really a thrill to watch Hummers defending their territory, great stuff.

You didn't confuse me, everyone has their own techniques and after looking through your Flickr it certainly speaks for itself.

For my nectar its really hit or miss, some batches they love it and some will just sit there and they won't eat it. I've got a bunch of other plants that attract hummingbirds, but we had a double dip winter this year (it warmed up to 70 for a week and then we had a few hard freezes) so a lot of the growth is stunted this year.