Photos

This female ruby-throated hummingbird is a regular at my mom's home. Here in Ohio, the only humminbirds we see are ruby-throated and rufous. The rufous are fairly new to the area, and I've not seen one yet.

I was within 6' of the feeder when I took this. I pre-focus the camera on the feeder and just wait.

The birds don't seem phased by the flash, so I take advantage of that and use it. The feeder is back-lit, so if the camera meters for the light behind the feeder, it makes the subjects in the foreground underexposed. Compensating by using AE Lock and metering light on the feeder results in the background being blown out, too bright, with the subjects almost sihlouetted.

So, using fill-flash is a must for a good exposure on this feeder. It's a good idea in most fast action situations involving zoom (I was zoomed all the way in at 7x on my Minolta A1).

I like the setup because the magnolia leaves behind the feeder make for a non-distracting background. The next step will be to either hang some favored flowers (such as a foxglove spike) in the place of the feeder, or to stick a bloom down into one of the ports. The hummers are so curious, they'll come and check it out, maybe even drink.

Cropped and sharpened a little using Irfanview. I hope this description was helpful for you. Now, go shoot some hummingbirds!