Hummingbird eyes his breakfast

Well done Steve, looks like your exposure setup is working good for you.

Really nice shot, love the colors!

Thanks, Kevin and Frank. The sun was a bit above the bird, though still somewhat behind me and diffused by light clouds, and the flash filled in underneath.

The flower is taped to a hummer feeder, with tape also put over the nectar feeder openings while shooting so the hummer, seeing it can't get at the sugar water, feeds from the flower. Of course, I pull the tape and the flower when I'm done shooting.

Very easy to control background, lighting angle and pose that way. I've got lots of keepers from completely natural situations, but it's rewarding to experiment with all the different ways of achieving a nice avian image.

Much more work to do this summer. All fun work though!

Edit: I should add the flash was to my right slightly and below the bird a bit, taped to a post and attached with an off-camera cord.

stevefossimages wrote in post #5628067

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Here are the techs: Canon 30D, Canon 400 f5.6L, Kenko extension tube, iso400, 1/800 at f5.6, EX 430 on high-speed sync at -1 1/3 flash exposure compensation, camera at +2/3 exposure compensation off evaluative metering, tripod, remote shutter release, manual focus

It's been awhile since I've been frequenting online forums. Sorry 'bout that. I've been sinking time into building the business. This is the first summer of full-time photography from my home office, which allows me to set my schedule myself and pursue photography when the light is right rather than when another job allows. So I'm working a bit with hummingbirds.

I'll be doing a lot more as the summer goes on.

Congratulations on both fronts! And what a great shot!

KAC

Stunning images as usual! Great everything!

that is a great shot

Great shot Steve. Beautiful.

Thanks Ken, Eric, Tigershark and Al.

Nothing is more fun for me than avian photography. Some days I wish I could focus completely on the birds, but then my wallet would scream at me mercilessly.

Really nice shot

Looks like perfection to me. --Rick

Nicely done Steve...I like the action in the wings, the position of bird and flower in the frame ( I guess i could have just said composition) and beautiful BG..Excellent image!!

Beautiful!!!

Wonderful shot! Hope we see more of these from you.

Thanks again to all of you. I'll post more as the summer goes on, hopefully. Of course, the ultimate goal is to get Mr. Hummer with his tongue out going into the flower.