Hi, folks. I haven't done much hummingbird photography lately but I went recently with Doug Brown before our Costa Rica workshop to test out a new hummingbird feeder area that I've set up in a lowland rainforest here. It's attracting some very interesting lowland species, and one I was particularly interested in was the little hermit (Phaethornis longuemareus). One of the flowers it likes best is the rattlesnake plant (Calathea crotalifera). I really wanted a nice image showing this hummingbird visiting this flower. Since the area is still getting ramped up, the volume of hummingbirds isn't yet comparable to highland areas like Monteverde (indeed it probably never will be given the lowland location). So, I set up for the long haul and, after about five hours was rewarded with this frame, which I think is quite nice. I like hummingbird images that make the bird part of the image rather than the sole or even principal focus, so this is what I envisioned. The flower grows commonly in rainforest light gaps, so BG and lighting scheme were chosen to give a filtered sunny tropical forest gap look. I rather like the OOF wasp in the corner but I'm sure some will disagree.
Tech: Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 70-300 mm f4-5.6 L IS zoom, tripod, cable release, radio flash triggers, four flashes (you don't need more!), plastic chair Post: Very slight crop (though I like the full-frame I thought slightly cropped would work better for the forum), cloned one catchlight from the bird's eye, and that's it Field: Set up in my new hummingbird area, flower baited with sugar water, printed BG Comments always appreciated. Cheers, Greg Basco







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