Stunning hummingbird photos

[Patti from Kentucky]

These are perhaps the most spectacular hummingbird photos I've ever seen...makes we want to hang up my camera permanently!

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/933203/0

[MAK]

WOW!

[dale]

OH! OH! first I was blown away by the way the iridescent feathers look like metal - but then  - the ones with their beaks open, the tongues, and the water...and the ones flying with fluff!!!  and the bathing one with his tail all up...and what is the deal with the one lying down? Is he or she OK? And the RED!!! I have to say that one of my very favorites is the one getting in a good scratch with his right leg. Somehow a thing you know all birds do, but you never think of a hummingbird that way.
Thank you for this!  dale

[Annette]

These hummingbird photos are great! 

[anneintoronto]

These are perhaps the most spectacular hummingbird photos I've ever seen...makes we want to hang up my camera permanently!

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/933203/0

First, don't do that Patti!  I really appreciate all your photos and the circumstances you take them under!  Keep up your good work!
Second, wow!  I am almost speechless -- but as always, not quite! 
Those are incredibly photos...an understatment!  I never thought of a hummingbird drinking directly from a faucet...  Learn something new everyday!  And all that fluff -- and here I thought that hummingbirds had the perfect life!!  And the dead ones -- it's sad, but real.  Of course, they just might be worn out from a sugar high...no, I guess not.  The only hummingbird that I've been close to was dead -- smacked into a big bank window...  A sad but interesting hands-on experience...

Anyway, thank you so much for this colourful look into the world of hummers!

Anne in Toronto

[Donna]

I get an error, no can see! 404 not found.

[Patti from Kentucky]

And the dead ones -- it's sad, but real.  Of course, they just might be worn out from a sugar high...no, I guess not. 

Anne in Toronto

Since the fellow didn't put captions on the photos, it's hard to tell what's going on here, but I'm guessing he has a really high-speed camera very capable of stopping action, and so it's entirely possible that he just captured those birds in the act of bathing enthusiastically.  Since hummingbirds can't walk (wimpy feet; they can only perch), they take baths by rubbing against a wet surface, such as the fountain in the photos (in my yard I'm seen them rub against wet leaves after a rain.  So even though I'm probably being pollyanna-ish, I like to think they're not dead but are simply rolling around in the water; eyes may be closed to protect them.

Anyway, that's my explanation and I'm sticking to it! 

[Patti from Kentucky]

I get an error, no can see! 404 not found.

Have you tried again Donna?  The link works for me today...

[Donna]

Wow, it sure does work Patti. What amazing pictures. Such detail. Beautiful, thanks.

[Lord G]

These are perhaps the most spectacular hummingbird photos I've ever seen...makes we want to hang up my camera permanently!

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/933203/0

Really beautiful shots.  The don't make me want to put down my camera, they make me want to get better with it.

I suspect the photographer was using a really long telephoto lens, maybe a 500mm f2.8 to get such nicely blurred backgrounds.  I'd love to know what the lighting conditions were like.  It looks like bright natural light, but some of the shots look like a point light source such as a flash might have been used.  Whatever he did, he did it right!

[Patti from Kentucky]

I have to say that one of my very favorites is the one getting in a good scratch with his right leg. Somehow a thing you know all birds do, but you never think of a hummingbird that way.
Thank you for this!  dale

I've spent so much time hummingbird watching in the back yard that I'm aware that hummingbirds spend an awful lot of time scratching.  When they're not looking for intruders, making defensive territorial forays, drinking nectar, or chasing bugs, they're scratching.

Patti

[Patti from Kentucky]

Really beautiful shots.  The don't make me want to put down my camera, they make me want to get better with it.

I suspect the photographer was using a really long telephoto lens, maybe a 500mm f2.8 to get such nicely blurred backgrounds.  I'd love to know what the lighting conditions were like.  It looks like bright natural light, but some of the shots look like a point light source such as a flash might have been used.  Whatever he did, he did it right!

Jim, I had scrolled through the forum's comments yesterday, and while I didn't look for clues about his technique, equipment, etc., I did note this comment from him:

"Thanks, Chris. They like to bathe daily in the fountain. You have to understand that we have over 500 hummingbirds come daily to our feeders during nesting season."

As you know...lots of opportunities to take photos creates better odds of getting a good one, and it sounds like he has lots of opportunities there!

[anneintoronto]

And the dead ones -- it's sad, but real.  Of course, they just might be worn out from a sugar high...no, I guess not. 

Anne in Toronto

Since the fellow didn't put captions on the photos, it's hard to tell what's going on here, but I'm guessing he has a really high-speed camera very capable of stopping action, and so it's entirely possible that he just captured those birds in the act of bathing enthusiastically.  Since hummingbirds can't walk (wimpy feet; they can only perch), they take baths by rubbing against a wet surface, such as the fountain in the photos (in my yard I'm seen them rub against wet leaves after a rain.  So even though I'm probably being pollyanna-ish, I like to think they're not dead but are simply rolling around in the water; eyes may be closed to protect them.

Anyway, that's my explanation and I'm sticking to it! 

Great point, Patti!!  Yes, just a stop action effect!  Sounds much more optimistic and very possible!!  Thanks for the positive words!! 

Anne in Toronto

[dale]

that bird is very far from dead! Two birders I sent the link to wrote back ecstatically about the prone bathing shots; that bird is ROLLING in the water! Those are the wildest pictures!

[Kris G.]

Gorgeous!!