Humming Bird

[Tom Holle]

My attempt and it was alot harder than I thought it would be. They are so fast.

[Ian]

Re: Humming Bird

Yes - with only 1/30th shutter speed you did well to get it as sharp as it is. There is virtually no hope of freezing the wings without masses of light and even at 1/4000th, which is the top shutter speed for your Lumix G1 I doubt you'd get sharp wings, but I think you could probably get the body of the hummingbird with around 1/500th or faster. That would mean boosting the ISO from 100 as you used here to at least 1600.

Ian

[Pops]

Re: Humming Bird

Agree with Ian. 1/30 is far to slow for any bird shot let alone the super fast humming bird.
You did enough to make it easily recognisable though.
If I was ever lucky enough to see one I think I would have set the ISO on auto

[Tom Holle]

Re: Humming Bird

Pops, I take it there are no Hummingbirds where you live. I use up about 2 hours of my morning on the deck watching anywhere from 2 to 6 of them. Their aerial acrobatics are next to unbelievable.

[Tom Holle]

Re: Humming Bird

Ian, how is it that you can read the information from photos on the site?

[Pops]

Re: Humming Bird

Ian, how is it that you can read the information from photos on the site?

Don't know what prog Ian uses but I use 'Opanda'
Its a small programmer that you can download for free which attaches itself to the 'Right Click' menu so: a right click on any (or most) images gives an option to view exif info.
You can find the prog Here

[Pol]

Re: Humming Bird

Yes - with only 1/30th shutter speed you did well to get it as sharp as it is. There is virtually no hope of freezing the wings without masses of light and even at 1/4000th, which is the top shutter speed for your Lumix G1 I doubt you'd get sharp wings, but I think you could probably get the body of the hummingbird with around 1/500th or faster. That would mean boosting the ISO from 100 as you used here to at least 1600.

Ian

I'd have thought it would be possible to get a good picci of a Humming Bird at 1/30th if you used flash. Maybe a couple of guns (at least) with bait for the bird ... then point one flash at the background and one or two more at the bird (to freeze the movement and wings, hopefully).

Offhand I'd suggest 3 guns, one on the background (use props) and at maybe one either side of the bird.

It would require preparation and experimentation of course, but if Tom sees them regularly and has a nearby location where he could set up using props I reckon he could get some great shots. The one he's posted here is pretty good imho, all things considered.

Pol

[Pol]

Re: Humming Bird

Ian, how is it that you can read the information from photos on the site?

The Exif is embedded in your photo. It's possible to view the exif in a gallery photo if you use the small downward facin white arrow (far right) then click on the small camera icon, bottom of the dropdown menu ... that will reveal the exif beneath the photo.

Another method would be to download a copy of the picture from the forum posting, save it to your desktop then right-click on the file and choose 'properties' from the dropdown menu.

Pol

[Ian]

Re: Humming Bird

Ian, how is it that you can read the information from photos on the site?

I mainly use FireFox for web browsing and there is a plug-in called FxIF that allows me to examine the exif data, if present, of images on web pages

Ian

[Ian]

Re: Humming Bird

Pops, I take it there are no Hummingbirds where you live. I use up about 2 hours of my morning on the deck watching anywhere from 2 to 6 of them. Their aerial acrobatics are next to unbelievable.

Now you're making me GREEN with envy

Ian

[Pol]

Re: Humming Bird

Now you're making me GREEN with envy

Ian

Same here. It must be wonderful just to be able to sit there and watch those beautiful little birds!

There's a good link HERE all about photographing Humming birds with the help of a few flashguns. That's an especially good link but there are other links where they're using a less expensive, less sophisticated set up.

Even one off camera flash + one on the camera might do it? Maybe place a board behind the flower to provide a background, point the off-camra flash at that and another onto the bird?

That should provide hours and hours of pleasure and entertainment - and hopefully a couple of keepers too.


Pol

[Tom Holle]

Re: Humming Bird

Pol, thank you for the link, I have bookmarked it.

[Tom Holle]

Re: Humming Bird

Thanks for the link, Pops.

[Tom Holle]

Re: Humming Bird

And the beauty of it is that I am within 8 feet of the feeders and at times they will stop their antics and come over and stare at your face.

[Pol]

Re: Humming Bird

And the beauty of it is that I am within 8 feet of the feeders and at times they will stop their antics and come over and stare at your face.

I'm 'flattered' if a small Robin looks at me from a nearby branch so it must be an amazing experience to have a Humming bird hovering to stare at you!

I love some of the Humming bird pictures you can find on the .net. There are some where people have created a bckground by placing an image of a sky picture behind the bait, which can be be very effective.

Good luck with your attempts to photograph them. You really are very lucky to have such wonderful opportunities!

Pol