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Post by kenpossum on May 23, 2011 9:57:46 GMT -8
Now that the hummingbirds are with us in greater numbers, the following tips may be of use to those that wish to photograph them. Your telephoto lens need not be too long, but there are ideal factors to consider. All of my images in this series (see Photo Gallery) were taken at a feeder, a 300mm lens (100mm would have been fine) and no flash. I like a nice sunny day in order for my shutter speed to be approx 1/1000 sec. I set my ISO at 320, and my f/stop at 7.5. Very important is to select a position where the sun is hitting the feeder and the bird from behind me or to the side - not from behind as the colours would not be as brilliant, and a silhouette would result. I try to select a background that is dark, in this case an out-of-focus green bush. Step 1 - Wait until the hummingbird hovers near the feeder. It took 25 attempts until I was successful, so have patience. Step 2 - Using a digital software program (in this case, Photoshop) I removed the feeder. Step 3 - Reframe the image. I favour using the 'Rule of Thirds' to place my subject awat from the centre of the image. Step 4 - Test the 'Enhance - Auto colour correction' to see if there is an improvement. In this case, the background went slightly darker. Finally, under 'Adjust lighting' tweak 'Image sharpness', 'Brightness' and 'Contrast'. There was little adjustment made in the sample image. Enjoy, and please post your results!
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Post by martin on May 24, 2011 17:08:35 GMT -8
Ken, alltough I prefer too just crop,and this seems like cheating, I'll play. Anything to post another picture ;D ;D Original shotCroppedFixed or Adjusted shotI kind of prefer the cropped shot though, I think.
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Post by kenpossum on May 24, 2011 17:57:34 GMT -8
Nice and sharp. Excellent composition. I like to just crop as well, but often the bird is too close to the feeder. There is nothing wrong with the feeder being in the shot either. Removing it enhances the 'natural' look. As you stated earlier, these are beautiful birds!
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Post by Chris on May 24, 2011 20:29:17 GMT -8
Great shots guys. I wish I could try this but we are getting no hummingbirds to our feeders!
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Post by Gord on May 24, 2011 23:04:04 GMT -8
Chris, hang in there. There seems to be more coming as my feeders are quite busy now finally.
Thanks, Ken and Martin for the insight on these guys.
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