Took some photos of hummingbirds over the weekend. I believe these are
'Rufous' Hummingbirds but not quite sure not being much of a bird
watcher. Quite a challenge to photograph these guys. Bit of a problem
for the auto-focus system as well. I'd like to hear from others that
have shot fast moving subjects like these little birds.
What I found is this. Not owning a big and fast telephoto lens I had to
sit 4 feet from the feeder on a chair. The hummers are a bit skittish
at first, but if you sit still they get used to you and just ignore
everything but the feeder and other hummers (they're VERY aggressive
for the feeder with other hummers). Lifting the camera to your eye also
scares them away, so there I was with the viewfinder plastered against
my face, sitting motionless until they come into the frame. The sound
of the shutter also scares them a bit but this is useful as then they
hover a bit and you can catch them in the act.
The setup changed over the course of the weekend. I didn't have my
laptop with me so I could only see the images in the camera screen. It
seemed that while fast shutter speeds stopped motion (almost, the wings
of a hummer are super fast and even at 1/2500 and higher there can
still be some motion blur) this necessitated a wide aperture (f/4 being
the widest on my lens) which had the bad side effect of creating a
narrow depth of field. This coupled with the VERY FAST motions of the
little birds made for focus issues. They'd be in focus when your mind
thought push the trigger and by the time you actually pushed the button
they'd move slightly out of focus when the shutter actually fired (I
did have the AF setting of AI-Focus set). So I bumped up the ISO to
1600 so I could have a smaller aperture with a fast shutter speed. Of
course this creates some unpleasant noise in the image. So with the ISO
high, wide(er) aperture and a fast shutter I simply tried to maintain
focus on the feeder with the birds coming into what should be a wider
depth of field.
The pictures are 100% crops with a bit of PS to get rid of the odd dust
spec. Pre-processed with Adobe Camera Raw. Camera is Canon EOS 30D,
Lens is EF-S 17-85mm IS USM.
wintermute wrote:
>
> Have a look at:
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/djholman...laHummingBirds
>
> The pictures are 100% crops with a bit of PS to get rid of the odd dust
> spec. Pre-processed with Adobe Camera Raw. Camera is Canon EOS 30D, Lens
> is EF-S 17-85mm IS USM.
Pretty good, and nice description of the technical challenges. You need
to get yourself a longer lens now! :-)
On 2008-06-17 16:46:38 -0700, "Brad Naylor" <brad_naylor@live.com> said:
>
> "wintermute" <nospam@no.com> wrote in message
> news:2008061714181816807-nospam@nocom...
>>
>>
>> The sound of the shutter also scares them a bit
>
> Can't you turn the shutter sound simulator off?
The camera has a shutter which makes real noise. The 'focus' beep was
turned off. Also, the camera drive was set for high speed continuous
shooting.
--
Walter H. KLaus
"wintermute" <nospam@no.com> wrote in message
news:2008061714181816807-nospam@nocom...
>
> Have a look at:
>
> http://picasaweb.google.com/djholman...laHummingBirds
>
> Took some photos of hummingbirds over the weekend. I believe these are
> 'Rufous' Hummingbirds but not quite sure not being much of a bird watcher.
> Quite a challenge to photograph these guys. Bit of a problem for the
> auto-focus system as well. I'd like to hear from others that have shot
> fast moving subjects like these little birds.
>
> What I found is this. Not owning a big and fast telephoto lens I had to
> sit 4 feet from the feeder on a chair. The hummers are a bit skittish at
> first, but if you sit still they get used to you and just ignore
> everything but the feeder and other hummers (they're VERY aggressive for
> the feeder with other hummers). Lifting the camera to your eye also scares
> them away, so there I was with the viewfinder plastered against my face,
> sitting motionless until they come into the frame. The sound of the
> shutter also scares them a bit but this is useful as then they hover a bit
> and you can catch them in the act.
>
> The setup changed over the course of the weekend. I didn't have my laptop
> with me so I could only see the images in the camera screen. It seemed
> that while fast shutter speeds stopped motion (almost, the wings of a
> hummer are super fast and even at 1/2500 and higher there can still be
> some motion blur) this necessitated a wide aperture (f/4 being the widest
> on my lens) which had the bad side effect of creating a narrow depth of
> field. This coupled with the VERY FAST motions of the little birds made
> for focus issues. They'd be in focus when your mind thought push the
> trigger and by the time you actually pushed the button they'd move
> slightly out of focus when the shutter actually fired (I did have the AF
> setting of AI-Focus set). So I bumped up the ISO to 1600 so I could have a
> smaller aperture with a fast shutter speed. Of course this creates some
> unpleasant noise in the image. So with the ISO high, wide(er) aperture and
> a fast shutter I simply tried to maintain focus on the feeder with the
> birds coming into what should be a wider depth of field.
>
>
> The pictures are 100% crops with a bit of PS to get rid of the odd dust
> spec. Pre-processed with Adobe Camera Raw. Camera is Canon EOS 30D, Lens
> is EF-S 17-85mm IS USM.
>
> --
>
> wintermute
>
I set my feeder by a window and plugged all the openings with duct tape
except one to control the birds location. My camera was set up on a tripod
very close to the window and feeder. I partially closed the curtains around
the camera. I used a remote shutter release so I could sit comfortably on
the couch. I would love to have some sort of sensor that would trip the
shutter when a bird was at the feeder. Then I could just leave it all day
to take pictures by itself.
On 2008-06-17 19:48:26 -0700, "Pat" <dancing@online.mac> said:
> I set my feeder by a window and plugged all the openings with duct tape
> except one to control the birds location. My camera was set up on a tripod
> very close to the window and feeder. I partially closed the curtains around
> the camera. I used a remote shutter release so I could sit comfortably on
> the couch. I would love to have some sort of sensor that would trip the
> shutter when a bird was at the feeder. Then I could just leave it all day
> to take pictures by itself.
Yup, sounds great. I know there are sensors that biologists/ecologists
use to photo elusive animals. Often used for big cats (the somewhat
solitary and nocturnal variety, probably triggered by IR)
On the hummingbird photography I did some research on the web and it
seems the trick is to use a high speed flash (or multiple flashes).
"wintermute" <nospam@no.com> wrote in message
news:2008061714181816807-nospam@nocom...
>
> Have a look at:
>
> So I bumped up the ISO to 1600 so I could have a smaller aperture with a
> fast shutter speed. Of course this creates some unpleasant noise in the
> image. So with the ISO high, wide(er) aperture and a fast shutter I simply
> tried to maintain focus on the feeder with the birds coming into what
> should be a wider depth of field.
>
>
> The pictures are 100% crops with a bit of PS to get rid of the odd dust
> spec. Pre-processed with Adobe Camera Raw. Camera is Canon EOS 30D, Lens
> is EF-S 17-85mm IS USM.
>
> --
>
> wintermute
>
>
You can address most of these problems with flash in one configuration or
another:
On 2008-06-18 08:31:19 -0700, "Eric Miller"
<millerericnospam@bellsouth.net> said:
>
> You can address most of these problems with flash in one configuration or
> another:
>
> Try here for some discussions and examples:
>
> http://www.dyesscreek.com/miscellane...otography.html
>
> Eric Miller
> www.dyesscreek.com
Yes, your web site is the very one I checked out. Unfortunately it was
*after* I had my little hummingbird experiment. I guess the next
experiment is learning about flash photography as I don't own a flash
other than the one built into the 30D. Have any recommendations for a
flash unit?
p.s. I agree with your conclusions about the blurring of the wings.
Hummers should have some blur in them.
--
Photographing Hummingbirds 
Linear Mode
