Hummers.....the 2WD type

greggae

Hi folks, I'm new around here and just getting back into SLR photography with a Nikon D70s and a couple of new lenses. I've had an FA for 20+ years and also a Coolpix 5000 for digital point and shoot stuff. I've just had the D70 for a couple of weeks and like it very much. The picts below are one of my practice projects with the new camera and lens. These were taken just off my back deck where I can play with things, go inside and take a look, and then try again. I am still not satisfied with the results, but I am learning a bit more with each attempt.
The last of the three is my favorite, mainly because of the pleasant surprise in the background. I really didn't do much of anything to them except cropping. I have Photoshop Elements but am new to it too. Might darken the one of the female a bit (second one) and would like to blow away the bee too. The bee zap will have to wait for me to get a little more experience with PS. If some one wants to point me in the right direction......mucho thanks. Here goes:

John Mueller

Welcome to Dgrin,
These are way better than anything I can do with the little guys:D
Have fun and keep posting.

Skippy

Hi Greg

greggae wrote:

Hi folks, I'm new around here and just getting back into SLR photography with a Nikon D70s and a couple of new lenses. I've had an FA for 20+ years and also a Coolpix 5000 for digital point and shoot stuff. I've just had the D70 for a couple of weeks and like it very much. The picts below are one of my practice projects with the new camera and lens. These were taken just off my back deck where I can play with things, go inside and take a look, and then try again. I am still not satisfied with the results, but I am learning a bit more with each attempt.
The last of the three is my favorite, mainly because of the pleasant surprise in the background. I really didn't do much of anything to them except cropping. I have Photoshop Elements but am new to it too. Might darken the one of the female a bit (second one) and would like to blow away the bee too. The bee zap will have to wait for me to get a little more experience with PS. If some one wants to point me in the right direction......mucho thanks. Here goes:

Welcome to the forum Greg
Those little Humming birds are just so colorful, we don't get them where I live, and I have never seen one except for photos on the internet.
I am hoping that when I get to Montana in a couple of weeks that I might see some while I am there....... sounds like they are not easy to shoot.
Do they take off if they see you
How close were you when you took those shots ??
Thanks for sharing......... Skippy (Australia)

greggae

John Mueller wrote:

Welcome to Dgrin,
These are way better than anything I can do with the little guys:D
Have fun and keep posting.

THANK YOU. I hope to have some even better shots in the future. I'm playing around trying to get the best balance between shutter speed and depth of field with the three lenses I have. The second two picts are taken with a 60mm Nikon, but I the first was taken with my 80-300mm Nikon zoom. I want to use the 60mm lens, but it means getting really close to the little buggers. They don't seem to mind since I am using a tripod and a remote, but it makes the setup a bit of a challenge in the location I'm doing it in.

greggae

Skippy wrote:

Welcome to the forum Greg
Those little Humming birds are just so colorful, we don't get them where I live, and I have never seen one except for photos on the internet.
I am hoping that when I get to Montana in a couple of weeks that I might see some while I am there....... sounds like they are not easy to shoot.
Do they take off if they see you
How close were you when you took those shots ??
Thanks for sharing......... Skippy (Australia)

Thanks to you too Skippy. They are not easy to shoot mainly because they move so fast. As said above, I am using a tripod and a remote to trigger the shutter. With the zoom lens, it is probably 6-8 feet away. With the 60mm lens it is within a couple of feet of the feeder. I am off to the front left of the camera 10-12 feet. The hummers don't necessarily take off when they see you unless you do something to scare them. But....they move fast and unexpectedly. The third picture above with the second hummer in the background captured one thing that often happens. The one in the background was was competing for a place on the feeder. Most times they don't even perch to feed. They just hover and in an instant...zoom off. Those two were in a battle for an hour or so to make the feeder their own.
They seem pretty fearless and even trusting....I think because they know that no human can move fast enough to hurt them. A few years ago, on two occasions, I had one get trapped in my garage between the glass in a window and the screen. Much to my surprise, the hummer let me reach up between the glass and screen and get it in my hand with its head sticking out between the curve of my index finger and thumb while I carried it out of the garage and set it free. They have hearts and wings that beat at some incredible rate per second.....As I held them, my heart seemed it was beating almost as fast. It was an incredible 30 seconds to feel that tiny, almost weightless creature in my hand, see it looking into my eyes and be able to help it out of the trap it had gotten into. I opened my hand and off it went.
I felt something very special.
I guess that's why I am so interested in trying to capture them with my camera.

greggae

One more hummer...
Still workin' at it......