Coming Home

I spent three weeks in the Tambopata National Preserve in Peru one winter, and spent most of every day out in the forest looking for subjects. Once I found this hummingbird nest just 6 feet off the ground hanging from a palm frond, I knew I'd be spending some time there. The mother came and went fairly often and I was getting some good shots, but I was hoping for better. At one point a strong wind buffeted the rainforest canopy, a warning of an oncoming thunderstorm, but I stuck around waiting for her to return because the light was suddenly perfect, soft and rich. I had to use a high ISO to freeze the motion of her wings, but otherwise I'm really happy with it. Hard, baseball sized fruit began falling from the canopy 100 feet over my head and slamming into the ground with enough force to leave little craters, so I threw my gear together and ran out of the forest.

Canon 5d Mark ii, 300mm f/4 lens w/1.4X teleconverter, 1/250 sec at f/5.6, ISO 1600, Gitzo Tripod