Anna's Hummingbird

Gallery: AvianPosted April 24, 20075,285 views32 comments

I photographed this Anna's last week at the Gilbert Water Ranch near Phoenix. I was in Phoenix on business and managed to sneak out there and do some shooting. What a great spot. I enjoyed meeting NPN'er Richard Ditch there. Slight crop for comp

20D 500IS+1.4X 1/6400 F5.6 iso 400 580ex -1 1/3

Comments

32 comments

Comment posted by Graeme Lee on April 24, 2007 at 7:05 PM

Fantastic detail in the wing Nate. They're very often posted with a lot more blurred wing action, so this is nice to see...Love the BG and comp... well done indeed

Registered on May 8, 2006, 85 Posts, 641 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on April 24, 2007 at 7:23 PM

Fantastic Nate. It's a lot more 'natural' than lots of hummingbird shots that are posted. Great job on the exposure.

Rob Drummond
Australia

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on April 24, 2007 at 7:50 PM

This is off the scale beautiful, the light, colors, background. Congratulations! The wings make it look very angelic.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Jose Suro on April 24, 2007 at 8:10 PM

Just perfect! The background blends well with the flowers and the bird is tack sharp. Excellent.

Jose

Registered on June 24, 2006, 267 Posts, 2273 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Spiecker on April 24, 2007 at 10:02 PM

Very nice Nate. Gilbert is such a great birding spot, don't you think. I love the way you froze the wing action here - a combination of high shutter speed and catching the wings at the very top.

Registered on March 23, 2006, 366 Posts, 4649 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Hice Jr. on April 24, 2007 at 10:12 PM

All "tens" here. That bg is just lovely.

Registered on December 8, 2005, 4 Posts, 126 Comments

Comment posted by Gaurav Manglik on April 24, 2007 at 10:32 PM

excellent Nate

Registered on December 2, 2005, 191 Posts, 2126 Comments

Comment posted by David Williams on April 24, 2007 at 11:05 PM

Wonderful natural shot, Nate.......very well done! I also love the stop action on the wings.

Registered on March 8, 2005, 315 Posts, 2291 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on April 24, 2007 at 11:22 PM

Excellent, Nate! I have a female image with wings shown like that, too.

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Sam Rua on April 25, 2007 at 12:48 AM

Beautiful, Nate. Exposure for the bird is just about perfect. Great capture because those Palo Verde blossoms don't have much more than a lick or two of nectar, so hummers tend to move about fairly quickly when feeding there.

Registered on September 9, 2006, 130 Posts, 2281 Comments

Comment posted by Juan Aragones on April 25, 2007 at 2:36 AM

Stunning shot Nate, I love that purple light on the head feathers and the frozen wing. I am not sure about the BG and I would suggest to clone out the flower at right and the OOF branches at the left but just my taste. The eyecatch is very nice.

Registered on September 28, 2006, 72 Posts, 779 Comments

Comment posted by Krijn Trimbos on April 25, 2007 at 6:35 AM

Great shot Nate!! Love the BG in this one

Registered on October 18, 2005, 260 Posts, 2979 Comments

Comment posted by Ganesh H Shankar on April 25, 2007 at 7:18 AM

Beautiful image Nate. Yesterday I saw this beauty in San Antonio, TX (currently on a business visit). Very beautiful bird, nicely frozen. After seeing it fly I can appreciate the challenge of freezing it ! Thanks for sharing.

Registered on March 1, 2004, 324 Posts, 1867 Comments

Comment posted by David Marotta on April 25, 2007 at 7:55 AM

Beautiful capture Nate, the BG is awesome and the detail, "stop action" is flawless. Definitely a springtime theme here. It's a shame the shadow blocked the reflection of the gorget on the front side.

Registered on January 3, 2007, 111 Posts, 622 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on April 25, 2007 at 9:32 AM

W!!! Sweet one Nate!!!

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Kevin Thompson on April 25, 2007 at 10:00 AM

Well done Nate..Love the BG

Registered on March 15, 2005, 114 Posts, 2639 Comments

Comment posted by Glenn Bartley on April 25, 2007 at 10:41 AM

Such a great shot Nate. Well done!

Registered on June 29, 2004, 448 Posts, 1180 Comments

Comment posted by Bob Steele on April 25, 2007 at 11:47 AM

Sweet shot, Nate! Good work getting him feeding on Palo Verde. You could probably go a little brighter on the mid-tones, subjective for sure.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 354 Posts, 13896 Comments

Comment posted by David Kjaer on April 25, 2007 at 1:00 PM

Beautiful - very nice all round image!

David

Registered on January 4, 2006, 128 Posts, 4170 Comments

Comment posted by Jim DeWitt on April 25, 2007 at 1:04 PM

Excellent work. Gilbert is a treasure, isn't it?

Registered on August 28, 2006, 1240 Posts, 8506 Comments

Comment posted by Richard & Gail Buq on April 25, 2007 at 4:57 PM

Hi Nate, this is a great capture. Nicely done!

Richard Buquoi
Georgetown, TX

Registered on December 18, 2005, 151 Posts, 811 Comments

Comment posted by Terry & Kay Steel on April 25, 2007 at 9:51 PM

Hi Nate, this is a wonderful image and I love the frozen wings. I have the exact same camera as you, and may try some of this in the upcoming months. I have never shot with that fast a shutter speed - ever... it leaves something to look forward to.

Registered on May 27, 2006, 112 Posts, 1098 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Backlund on April 25, 2007 at 10:30 PM

Beautiful!

Registered on September 29, 2005, 252 Posts, 3380 Comments

Comment posted by Duane Rosenkranz on April 25, 2007 at 11:02 PM

Beautiful shot. BG colors are gorgeous.

Registered on October 13, 2004, 280 Posts, 2661 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on April 26, 2007 at 5:23 PM

This is stunning! I love everything about tihs. The background is perfect IMO. This is so much nicer than the mutli-flash fake background shots we see so much of.

I wish I could get an Ann's this good at the Water Ranch.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Neil Losin on April 26, 2007 at 9:37 PM

Hi Nate,

I really like this, esp. the background. Nice work!

Registered on September 16, 2005, 145 Posts, 3524 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Hyman on May 15, 2007 at 12:52 PM

A lovely shot, Nate,

I'm assuming you did some sharpening before you posted and IMO that does weird things to the reds on the bird. They look a bit like plastic. My 2-cents.

Carol

Registered on January 18, 2007, 597 Posts, 8062 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on May 18, 2007 at 10:34 PM

Lovely! My week with the hummers in AZ last month showed me how tough it is to get good images like this - SO many variables have to come together..
Sandy.

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Jack Mitchell on June 21, 2007 at 7:25 AM

Great shot, very good detail, and very close up.

Registered on June 16, 2007, 2 Posts, 16 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Hyman on November 1, 2007 at 9:13 PM

Nate, A charming little hummer with great detail. I especially like your DOF.

Carol

Registered on January 18, 2007, 597 Posts, 8062 Comments

Comment posted by Jose Suro on November 2, 2007 at 10:50 PM

Excellent Nate!! One of your best ones lately. Gorgous background and tack sharp. Great work.

Best,

Jose

Registered on June 24, 2006, 267 Posts, 2273 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on April 22, 2009 at 11:23 AM

Beautiful work Nate, lovely image

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments