Hummingbird Joy

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Canon 1D MarkIV, Canon 300mm IS lens, 1.4 teleconverter, 420mm hand-held, f/5.6, 800 ISO

1/1300 sec.

Just got this photo of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird in my veggie garden this morning, sipping a nasturtium. It was magic. The hummingbird was lit in the early morning August sun. Not an easy shot to get, as it was flying freely, and only hovering for seconds at the flowers. Many gorgeous hummingbird shots you see in books and magazines are taken at feeders, where the photographer has a set-up with a flower covering the glass tube of the hummer feeder, and high speed flash lights to freeze the wings. Those are beautiful shots too, and take skill. But what I like about this is that it captures a wild moment in natural light.

Another way we get to be with hummingbirds, as in this video, is watching them come to our hummingbird feeders which we place within 10 feet of our chairs on the deck. We can hear the buzz of the wings and see their throats move as they lick up the nectar at about 13 licks per second. For us, hummingbirds are one of the great joys of the summer. It's not too late to put up hummingbird feeders now, as many hummingbirds have already begun their migrations.