Ruby-throated Hummingbird w/Bigma + 20mm Kenko Tube

I put my feeder back up 4 days ago and it took about 30 minutes to get my first hummers to feed from it. Now I have a steady parade. There is at least one male, and two females I can identify by different markings on them. This is the Lord of the Domain, and he sure knows it. He like to perch on the tippy top of the branch and keep an eye on things. Shot from about 15 feet away.

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Mitch nice shots ..did that little bird pose for you ? hahaha musta got the word out how good of a photgrapher you are >wink<

Thanks Deb. To tell the truth, I think they are oblivious to me, even only 15 feet away. Also, these little jets are turning out to be the hardest birds to shoot I have ever encountered. Of course, it's been very dark, rainy and cloudy since they first started showing up, so maybe with some decent light it will get easier.

I am slowly moving the feeder closer to my window hide in an attempt to get them closer, so I can use my Macro lens.

missed these mitch. love the pose in 3. and 4. just stick your feeder to 10ft mitch and use the lens naked.

Thanks Jason. I'm thinking of getting it really close, over a few days time, like 4 feet or so so I can use the Sig 105 Macro. It's a way faster lens.

Nice images, Mitch. And good use of the Kenko tube. I was thinking about using one with my 400 but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I have used the 12mm with the 50mm f/1/8 and have had to get within inches of small wildflowers for a focused shot. I see with the Bigma and 22mm tube, you were able to focus from 15 feet. I will rmember that should our hummers ever show. So far we have gottena fleeting glimpse at one a couple fo days ago. That's it.

Once again, excellent captures.

Thanks Ed. I use the Kenko tubes all the time. When I had the 400L, I did some tests. You will always lose maximum focus. There is no more infinity. With the 12mm tube, max is about 40 feet, min is about 10 feet. With the 20mm, max is about 30 feet, min about 9 feet. and the 36mm is max about 17 feet and min is about 6 feet. If you stack all three, you can focus in to about 3.5 feet and all will keep auto focus with no loss of IQ.

Mitch, fabulous shots. The ones in flight are awesome. Great series.

Thanks Bill. These little dudes are hard to shoot. I can't wait for some more light. But I'm ready. I've spent all day practicing.

Kudos. You ought to be quite please with these.

Thanks Mike, I am, I've been waiting a long time for these guys.

Here's a few more from today.

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canonloader wrote in post #3312631
. Also, these little jets are turning out to be the hardest birds to shoot I have ever encountered. Of course, it's been very dark, rainy and cloudy since they first started showing up, so maybe with some decent light it will get easier.

I am slowly moving the feeder closer to my window hide in an attempt to get them closer, so I can use my Macro lens.

Nice shots.
Having the same problem you are. Not enough sun to get the shutter speed up.

I tried using my 100mm macro today, since our feeder is 6" from a window. I had no problem getting the birds close enough. Problem was taking the picture. They heard the mirror slap up, and before the shutter opened they were jumping off the feeder and nothing but a blur at 1/200 ss. After a number of tries they started to get use to it, and didn't fly away. But, they flinched enough that 1/200 ISO400 f2.8 produced crap shots. More light and maybe I'll get them.

Edit: Just noticed the second set. Looks like you got some light. Much sharper. And the poofy one looks just like the bird in my other post

Thanks JC. If you look at the EXIF of the last shot, the shutter speed was only 1/40sec. A few weeks ago, I began practicing with extremely slow shutter speeds, because where I live we have more cloudy days than London.

What I found through several weeks of practice now, was that it works. Birds look like they are always moving, but the fact is, between moves, they are stock still, and when you shoot at 3 fps, you get a better than half number of good in focus keepers. Sure, some junk, but I always get some junk shots anyway. So, the amazing keepers I have taken far outweighs the junk shots I have to delete.

I wasn't really worried about shutter speed, but more with the darned ISO. I had to shoot at ISO 320 for most of the day. If it comes out sharp, ISO 100 is still way better than ISO 320, all else being equal.

I saw your pics in your thread, and that's exactly what I said. Wow, that looks just like JC's hummer.

Nice focus,great catchlights...fantasti​c captures. I almost "swatted" one today while waiting for an Indigo Bunting by a throng of Columbines. Scared me...I thought it was a giant Bumblebee from the humming. It was about 3 feet from my face...needless to say...I froze and missed it.

Thanks Cooper. I've almost swatted them too, when I lived in Phoenix and they were all over the place.