Anna In The Wind

I think this is a Anna's Hummingbird. The brown on its head would turn red and golden yellow. If I am wrong please let me know. The Anna was the closet match I could find in all my bird books.


Kingston, Washington
Nikon D300s, f/5.6, 1/400s, ISO 200
Nikkor 80-400 @400mm

I like the action you have captured here Tim, it really conveys a sense of the little guy holding on in the wind. I would agree that this is an Anna's male. My only suggestion would be to try and lighten up the image if possible. Nice capture!

Thanks so much for your feedback, it means a lot to me. I left this dark on purpose. When it is printed, the greens of the Anna are bright and electric, a true sight to see in print. Also the lighter green background is brighter which stands out beautifully against the darker edges. The image did darken a bit when converted to jpeg, I am not very good at doing that.

I think it's crazy lucky to capture one of these things. I love the green hues in this image...

I think luck has a lot to do with it also. :) This little guy was being blown around in the breeze and wouldn't let go of the branch. I think he was looking for a mate because he was here for 3 days chasing other hummers off his territory.

Wow, to freeze a hummingbird at 1/400 sec is pretty dang awesome. I like the action and the way he looks like he's trying to land on that branch. The monochromatic look really adds to the mood as well. All in all, an awesome shot.

Thanks Jesse!

Thanks David! I would imagine the VR had a lot to do with stabilizing the image so it could be shot at 1/400. The branch he is on was at the far right of the photo and the wind would blow him over to where he is at now in the photo. It was fun watching him try and hang on for the ride.

Hi Jesse, I was thinking about a hummingbird's wing "RPM" when I mentioned the speed. I know those little guys really move. I'll bet it was a real blast watching him. And, as before, excellent capture.

This is an awesome image Jesse. I love the look of concentration. I also like the flared tail feathers and raised wings as the bird was trying to stabilize himself in the wind. Well done.

Thanks Scott and David. Just for reference, my name is Tim

Tim,
Awesome capture. Congrats!