Hummingbirds

[koputai (Jason)]

Some more birds from our recent trip. The first one taken in Ecuador, the rest in Costa Rica.
All were taken in the wild but using a feeder. Once again all with the 7D and 70-300mm L lens.







Cheers,
Jason.

[supernova1965 (Warren)]

Nice set of photo's WELL DONE

[mercedes_sl1970]

Beautiful photos. I like how you still have a little wing blur in the aerial shots - makes them more dramatic and lifelike. I'm curious about your shutter speed and f stop.

Cheers

Andrew

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Such gorgeous and unique birds. Lovely shots.

[StephenM (Stephen)]

Great captures again Jason!

Cheers,
Stephen

[koputai (Jason)]

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by mercedes_sl1970

I'm curious about your shutter speed and f stop.

Andrew, yes I find I like a bit of wing blur rather than frozen shots too.
Details for each shot were:
1. 1/320 f/5.6 ISO1600 No Flash
2. 1/1000 f/5.0 ISO400 Flash
3. 1/1000 f/4.5 ISO400 Flash
4. 1/320 f/5.6 ISO400 No Flash
5. 1/640 f/5.6 ISO800 No Flash
6. 1/500 f/5.6 ISO800 No Flash

I'd never shot anything like this before, so it was all new to me. I wanted to travel light, so only took a 270EXII flash, the 580 would have been much better. The birds are more often than not in shadow, usually under dense canopy.

I found that I could get so close that I never needed the 300mm length I had, and that somewhere from 70mm to 150mm was perfect. These birds are so fast that you can't hope to aim at them, you have to chose a place where you expect they will be, manual focus, and wait. Even then you need a very fast trigger finger! One out of three shots had no bird in the frame!

If I was to go there again, I reckon I'd take a fast 135mm or 200mm prime, the 580 flash, and a tripod.

Cheers,
Jason.

[mercedes_sl1970]

Thanks, Jason - appreciate the details. I reckon if you took the prime lens you would be cursing that you hadn't taken the zoom, and then vice versa! It's always frustrating when you travel with a camera.

Cheers

Andrew