Rufous Hummingbird
Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200 2.8 IS II w/ 1.4x extender @ 135mm. ISO 400, 1/125 sec @ f/16.
We have several bird feeders in the backyard, strategically placed near our livingroom window so we can watch and take pictures up close. I’ve been home sick with a cold for the last three days (all because of LongShot!) so I’ve had a good chance to just sit and watch.
The parade of birds is amazing this time of year. I counted 15 different species at the feeder on Monday morning in the span of a few hours. One of them was a random hummingbird which meant it was time to get the hummingbird feeder out.
The hummingbirds are a tad skittish, and their feeder isn’t very close to the livingroom. Then I remembered I had a remote camera trigger that I bought for cheap off eBay. Found it, put the camera on the deck right near the feeder, and fired away. The shots were decent, but depth of field was a problem.
Then I remembered the studio strobes that I never use 🙂 Found them, set them up, and voila. Rufous hummingbird in its splendid glory. I can take credit for the lighting setup, but my wife fired the shot when she saw it at the feeder.
We’ll definitely set this rig up this weekend next to the big feeder to see what else we can catch. And yes, I should have taken the extender off now that I see the mm reading in the EXIF. It was on from another shoot before. I’ll take it off next time and see if the image quality is even better.
Anyone else using strobes to catch birds feeding?
Leave a Reply