Yesterday as I was watching some Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) buzzing around some distant trumpet flowers at Huntley Meadows Park, one of them suddenly flew closer to a small patch of cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis). The shutter speed was too slow to stop the action completely, but you can see how perfectly the hummingbird’s bill fits into the long tubular flower that is too narrow for most bees to reach.
Hummingbirds fly really fast, so I wasn’t too surprised that there was a lot of motion blur in my shots. I was a bit shocked, however, to see that my shutter speed had fallen to 1/100 of a second for these shots, which is, of course, way too slow for the subject, particularly because I was shooting with my zoom lens at 600mm handheld. When I was focusing on the sitting hummingbird that I included as the final shot here, there was considerably more light and the subject was stationary and I did not make any adjustments when the hummingbird flew to a darker area with the cardinal flowers.
If you look closely at the shot of the perched hummingbird, you may notice that it has tiny feet. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website, “The extremely short legs of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird prevent it from walking or hopping. The best it can do is shuffle along a perch. Nevertheless, it scratches its head and neck by raising its foot up and over its wing.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Two of my favorites, Mike — Cardinal Flower and Ruby-throated Hummingbird! Too bad the hummer isn’t a male. Safe to assume you used “Bazooka Joe” for the hummer photos in this post and another recent post?
Yes, Walter. In the old days the trumpet vines were closer to the boardwalk, but they are now so far away that it takes my longest lens to reach out to where the hummingbirds feed.
Really surprising–and delightful–results, considering your unintended slow settings. These little wonders are so much fun to work with, under any conditions!
Thanks, Gary. Hummingbirds are really fun to watch, but it can be a little frustrating to try to photograph them.
I travel 40 minutes each winter to see and photograph Allen’s Hummingbirds. Because they do fly so fast I shoot at ISO 500-800 and usually shoot wide open! I bought a better camera because of them! They’re so beautiful and unique. I love that last image on the branch. What a fantastic perch and image!
Thanks. It was a heavily overcast day when I took these shots and I had my ISO set at 1000, so I thought my shutter speed would be enough. It was enough for the perching bird, but not for the one in motion.
I kind of like the wing blur. It shows how fast the wing beats really are.
I never knew they had such short legs!
I saw a humming bird in Cuba once. Couldn’t believe how fast it moved around. In awe of those who manage to catch them with the camera. Excellent.
Thanks. There is a lot of luck involved in shots like this. Obviously I can’t control the luck part of it, but I am both patient and persistent and that helps raise the odds of me getting some shots of these speedy little birds.