OK.. I said I'd take a shot of one of my setups for hummingbird shots.

Here you go.

The Vivitar flash is new and  this is the only shot I have taken with it that I've posted.

I bounce between the lens shown and my Sigma 70-300mm. Here are more shots taken from the same place.

A Young Rufous
The Hummer From Hell
A Young Male Anna's In Flight
A Young Rufous I think. May be a Calliope. Very hard to tell the young ones apart.
Young Male Anna's Closeup
Adult Female Anna's In Flight
Adult Male Anna's

Set up a place to shoot that is comfortable for you. If you have too many birds fighting put up another feeder. Kick back and talk to them while they feed so they get used to you. Keep your body movements slow and easy. Plan on one good shot out of many. And last... enjoy them!! They are one of the smallest but greatest creatures on earth.

Pain and suffering is a pain and I'm just not into it. I'd rather shoot things showing good things that bring a smile. Speaking of which... Rusty is still hanging around. Sun was going down so the dof isn't what I would have liked. Maybe tomorrow.

OK.. I'm working on my lighting. I think this is something many run into with feeders hanging under the eve of the house. Even if you want to shoot out through the window like these are you have the problem of lots of top light and light on the wrong side of the bird... from Tuesday.

Being the poor and starving photographer that I am, I find things that will work without spending a bunch of money. Need some reflectors? Go buy a couple of the folding sun shades for your car when they are on sale. Now tape one to the wall below your feeder and use a stick or two to tip it up at an angle so you can see the bottom of the feeder brighten up. It will make a world of difference on the bottom side of  the bird.I had to do a lot less work in PhotoShop to get what I wanted in this one. Will work on it more tomorrow. I actually had to do work today.

I'm really going to hate to see this guy head for Mexico next month!!

Some day they will leave and I won't get to shoot them at this rate. This is the same male Rufous I posted with him sitting at the feeder. I changed feeders because the wasps wouldn't leave the one with yellow on it alone and the birds hate them. Homemade single port there now so you get him  in flight.

I'll try to work on the lighting and get his underside a little better. Tough shooting through that window with the light behind and above him. May have to work out a reflector.

What can I say? I think she's my shot of the week. Adult Female Rufous.

Enjoy,
Mike

I'll try to get more of this guy and better ones. He is one spooky little bird. So far I'm having to shoot him through the window. If I'm anywhere around outside he will buzz the feeder and he is gone. He will only eat at the one feeder in the front and my best lighting is in the back. I'll keep working on it.

New guy on the block.

Why I don't have children...

Mommy she's sticking her tongue out at me. Make her stop.

I was not!! I was sitting here with my back to her!

You were not!! You were turned around facing me!

I'm  confused. I don't know what you are talking about!!

Note: This is the hummer from hell in yesterdays post.

Enjoy,
Mike

I got lazy and parked the Canon on the tripod and my butt in the chair and away we went.

It has been a zoo around the back deck the last couple of weeks. All of the new kids are hitting the feeders pretty hard. It gets tough when you have a lot of them of one kind but when you mix Anna's and Rufous it can turn into a small war zone. I have to look before opening the door because they use the breezeway between the house and studio for a flyway to get from one feeder to the other.

Anyway.. you can't see the air those wings are beating in at around 55 beats per second but you can sure hear the sound.

This is a young Rufous female... 1, 2, 3, 4,  5, 6, and 7.

This is a young Anna's. From the color on it's cheeks and a couple of red spots near the eyes I think it is male but he won't hold still long enough to look under his tail to see (grin). 1, 2, 3, and 4. This bird has a funny sound. I'm guessing it has a damaged tip on a primary feather. It sounds kind of like an old hand egg beater. Only one I've ever heard like it. The sound will change when the new feather grows in.

He was back feeding like there was no tomorrow this morning but I never saw him the rest of the day. He may have been a scout and still headed north. Who knows. Anyway, he discovered my home made feeder and decided he liked it better than sitting which was fine with me. 1, 2. If he comes back I'll get more.

... and it's warm in here so the door is open out to the deck. I hear the sound of wing beats. Hummingbird wing beats to be specific. That's pretty normal around here with my resident Anna's but the sound is all wrong. My girls chirp at me when they come in to feed. No chirp and funny sounding wings will get me out of the chair every time.

I have been waiting for a month... I was gone for a week... It's just me and the dog which make for a pretty boring house. The Rufous are here!!!!! I's so jazzed. The first one to show was a male. This is the first male Rufous I have ever seen much less gotten the chance to shoot. The coloring hasn't been played with. It is the real color of the bird. Hope you enjoy him as much as I did. 1, 2, 3, 4.

A few tech specs if you're interested:

Canon 20D with Canon 100-400 EF-L IS lens set at about 350mm from about 7 feet away. Camera on manual, 200 iso, f5.6 and 1/400 with Canon 430 EX flash on 1/4 power and high speed sync.