Adult male Ruby-throated Hummingbird
It’s this time of the year when we have to refill each of our three hummingbird feeders twice a day. The young Ruby-throated Hummingbirds compete heavily over the food sources with the adults. Yes, we have many flowers in our yard but this wouldn’t be enough to keep them all happy. The male adults often perch near a feeder in small trees or bushes and defend ”their” feeder vigorously against any intruder. However, they are outnumbered by the juveniles and females and so every bird has finally a chance to drink and boost their energy.
The best time to shoot the birds perched in a little maple in front of our porch is early or midmorning. No flash was required to reveal the brilliant colors of the hummingbird’s feathers.
Juvenile male buzzing and hovering near a feeder
The second photo was made the night before, when the sun was already low and behind the trees. This time I had a speed-light mounted to the camera but softened its output with a small on-camera softbox. The Nikon Nikkor 70-200, f/4 lens was used at 200 mm in order to move quickly and follow the action of the hummingbirds while they hover near the feeders. I love the buzz of their wings and for me that has to be part of the story I try to tell with a photo of a hummingbird in flight. It is possible to freeze the action of the wings with a faster flash output and a shutter speed of about 1/1600s or faster, but hummingbirds are constantly in motion and I prefer to shoot with 1/200s for the motion blur of the wings. This is maybe a little more difficult and not every click may lead to a good result.