Lots of Humming Birds this year. There was one this morning perching on my roses and flying back and forth to my Humming Bird feeder. The one this morning had a beautiful green color in some of its feathers, not something I have seen here before. I would love to get some pictures but the little things are so darn fast. Any suggestions?
George in San Antonio
How do I get a picture of a Humming bird?
I just click click click in the general area, not necessarily trying to "get" the hummer , cause they are too fast, and then out of 50 shots, a few will come out good. Easy with a digital camera to just delete the bad ones. The other thing is to sit near where you see them, waiting, and ready. Good luck!
There are two keys to photographing hummingbirds.
1 - Patience
2 - Location
Set up a hummingbird feeder and watch it until you see action. Then set up within range of your camera and wait.
Likewise, if you have a digital with rapid fire mode, set it for that, assuming you don't need flash. Also, a lot of digitals will not do rapid fire in automatic mode. So know your camera. A lot of hummers do not like to see anyone moving about. So, they will run if they see any motion. Some will eat out of your hand. Patience.
If your digital has a reasonable telephoto range, set near the end of that range, with an idea of what kind of picture you want. Feeding - hovering - posing on a nearby limb to chase others away, etc. Note also that male Ruby-throats migrate separately from females. So, if you see a female at your feeder that is what you are going to get. Wait and watch. Males will come through on different schedule. All of this of course depends upon where you are and what travels through your area.
Attached is one of my favorites - a male Ruby-throat "top gun" ready to chase any other hummers away.
Rod
Jester, I neglected to note your location before responding. In San Antonio you will mostly get Ruby-throats. And, the emerald green back is a typical Ruby-throat marker. The females will have a plain throat, with small streaks. The male will have a dark throat. The red will only show when the male wants it to show, generally a
part of a threat when starting an attack. Patience.
You are on the western margin of the Ruby-throats flight line and the eastern margin of the Black-throats flight line.
You could get lucky and see both. Confusion - both have an emerald back and the females are almost identical. The Black-throat will show a dark violet throat band under circumstances similar to the Ruby-throat showing red.
Use flash if possible, to stop motion. But, it will also light up their eyes, so avoid if you don't want to see bright eyes (my Photoshop Elements 3 will not correct this with "red-eye" removal).
Rod