My first serious attempt at shooting Hummingbirds

[sury]

Well, missus bought a hummingbird feeder and set it up all loaded with sugar water.



I took a few initially with Min 100mm f2.8 macro and cropped.

[jbtaylor]

Gonna need a blind to get close enough. And maybe a less cluttered background.
Looking forward to the next set.

[sury]

JT,
Thank you. Well, then I switched to Sony70-400. I might even try my Tamron 200-500 tomorrow if it is sunny enough.

[ValeryD]

Very good last four shots!

[aster]

.

So good to see Humming birds visiting your garden, Sury!
I'm cheered just looking at these captures.

I love all three.

Thanks for sharing,
Yildiz

[sury]

Valery, Yildiz,
Thank you. We used to have them visit and usually in the early morning. I seldom had a chance,
since missus is a morning person and I am a night owl. After the feeder is installed, I see them
at more "decent" times. Yesterday I saw two, so the visitors have doubled and today I saw
two different ones. Looking forward to more of them visiting more often.
Interestingly enough we found that we need to be extra careful preparing the sugar water and keep
it fresh. Stale water will cause conjunctivitis, I believe.

Sury

[jbtaylor]

Getting better.
Keep going.

[sury]

I have tried 5 different lenses and about 300 or so shots to figure out the right combo. Those little fellas
are amazingly fast. Unless I go to a shutter speed of 1/3200 or faster, I am not getting decent in flight
images. So I waited for the sunny days, set iso to 1600, and went at it. I zoomed back on my 70-400 to
around 150 for a wider field of view. Then it hit me. How stupid am I? Please don't answer that question.
I dusted off my CZ135 and took a few.

This one is with Sony70-400.
First there was one:


Then there were two
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2kGymAV]

Now a third member from different species is after that sweet water.

[aster]

.

Hi, Sury;

Going with the CZ 135 mm in the end appears to be a good choice. The first one with the 70-400 mm has a very busy background because of the distance. The 2.8 F-stop wasn't able to create the creamy smooth background it often does.

The second and third are really good and we see many sharp details. The third species is also visible in the second shot - a little to the right.

I believe this new adventure is becoming exciting for you from your own comfy seat!

Thanks for sharing the delight,
Yildiz

[sury]

Thank you Yildiz. These are the examples of going with CZ135. I should have made it clear. You are right about bokeh though.
70-400 is a hit or miss on bokeh but the CZ135 is a different story altogether.

[aster]

.

Nicely continued, Sury,

I like the third the most where the little buddy really looks great in flight!

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to neater ones with your new camera set up outdoors and the photographer inside...

Yildiz

[sury]

Thank you, Yildiz.

Sury