Male Ruby Throated Hummingbird

[David Kenny]

Taken yesterday afternoon. Male ruby throated Hummingbird. I cant believe I have finally gone to ISO1600 on the 7D. I over exposed + 1/2 which I think helped with the noise. I have been trying to get a decent shot of these guys for two years. The only thing I did in post was crop it down to an 8x10 format eliminating the feeder from the shot. All comments and critiques welcome.


Canon 7D
100-400mm @ 400mm
F 6.7
ISO 1600
1/750
On Tripod

Thanks,
-Dave

[Diane Miller]

Very nice! A little more DOF would be good, but that would mean even higher ISO, or risking a lower SS. That would be worth trying, and could give very nice blur on the wings, although you may get fewer keepers. You got very nice focus where you needed it, with great detail. The noise reduction programs are so good these days, we can go to higher ISOs than we used to.

Flash is the way to really freeze these guys, but gets involved, with a minimum of 3 flashes, one for an artificial BG to avoid ghosting from ambient light.

[David Kenny]

Thanks Diane. This is my first time using iso 1600. The 7D has a bad rep for producing noisy images at higher iso so I have always been afraid to go higher, but the results actually shocked me. I wonder if its a combo of slower shutter speed at higher iso that produces more noise. If the hummingbirds stick around long enough I am going to break out the flash (only have one) and try to get creative.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

David,

Greetings. Nice looking gorget & detail from the shoulders up. Most likely motion blur from the wings down on the body rather than dof. 1/750 is a bit slow at 680mm (equiv w/ crop factor). 1/2000 is a nice speed to try for (at that you still won't freeze the wings). Feeders have the downside of not wanting them in the photo so one shoots the hummer when its hovering off the feeder They move more when not feeding so harder to get just the right shot. I'd strongly recommend finding a nice hummingbird attracting garden. Much easier to get when they are at a photogenic flower... Not to mention that they tend toward returning to the same group of flowers.

I shoot hummers often - ISO 3200-6400 (high iso cameras, though), minimum 1/1000 usually 1/2500-1/8000 600mm HH no flash

The path not taken but perhaps more common is 3-5 flashes, tripod, etc. even feeder hidden in flowers.

Finally, perched shots are pretty cool to for my taste, if you wait around, they will get used to you being there and will return to a favored perch (least those in my haunts).

Keep at it....

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Diane Miller]

Good advice from Michael. They are fun to shoot -- cute little beasties!

The factors in noise are ISO and how much exposure correction is done in post. Overexposing and bringing exposure down in post will give less noise than underexposing and bringing exposure up -- ditto for simple dark areas in an image. The Shadows correction (lightening them) will also bring up noise.

Sensor temperature is also a factor, but I haven't seen stats on how much it affects everyday shooting. It can be a factor as heat builds up in long exposures, and of course made worse by high ambient temps.

I forgot to say, you handled the reds very well, and the BG color is stunning but not overpowering. Good work controlling saturation and still getting bold colors.

[David Kenny]

Thanks for the comments. Michael - I just set a perch up yesterday evening and by this morning the male was already on it.

[Walker Noe]

Looks very nice. Not too noisy for my taste. It's hard, IMO, to effectively capture the brilliant gorget colors without blowing them out. You have done a very good job with that. A superb image.

Walker