Spent 10 days in Montana in late May. My friend had a hummingbird feeder and I sat next to it on a VERY bright day so that I was able to use a shutter speed of 1/5000. Got some shots of this Calliope Hummingbird. I was interested to see that the lower part of the bill bends, which I believe we discussed as rhynchokinesis somewhere else on this forum. You also can see the bird's tongue. Looking at other images, you can see that the bird actually licks the sides of the bill after drinking nectar.
If I were to change this image, I would change the small area on the neck that looks too hot, and would change the head angle a bit.
C&C welcome.
Info
Nikon D700
f/5
shutter 1/5000
ISO 1000
200 mm Macro lens
No flash
Nice action, and the open bill is neat. However the light angle is pretty bad, which is why the highlights on the neck are blown, and the rest of the bird is darker. Next time, try to have the sun at your back. Also, the bird looks a little soft to me.
Great pose of a hummingbird that I've never been able to photograph as well as I'd like. Aidan makes some good points. Here's a quick repost that attempts to achieve better light balance between subject and BG. How do you like it?
I like the re-post of Dough. The cropping works better as well. Nice bird and it is worth the effort of capturing it. I hope we will see more post from you on this subject. Thanks for posting.
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