I mentioned previously that it is very hard to photograph a hummingbird in flight. I took this photograph of a Black-chinned Hummingbird while waiting for Painted Buntings to show up at the Pedernales Falls State Park bird blind. I tried many techniques but the light was too dim to have a faster shutter speed. I probably needed 1/2000th of a second and I was at half of that. I’m fairly happy with the results including the bird’s head and background. The wings and tail feathers is what I need to focus on (no pun intended). I will keep trying and I will post the best results in future blog posts.
The Black-Chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) is a small but extremely adaptable bird. It occupies a broad range of habitats. They are migratory and spend most of the winter in Mexico (and sometimes in southern Texas). They eat mostly bugs, nectar from plants and of course sugar water from hummingbird feeders. They have a variety of songs depending on their activity and their wings make the distinctive hummingbird “hummmm” sound when they fly (of course).
This image was taken with my Canon EOS 5DS using my Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 II Lens set on 400mm. The camera was set on Manual mode with the aperture set at f/6.3, shutter speed at 1/1000th of a second and the ISO set at 800. This is a single photograph processed in Lightroom and Nik Color Efex Pro.
You can view my Birds of Texas collection by clicking here. Please use the section below to post your comments, questions, or suggestions.
Nice one.
Thanks Rick!