Birds in Nature - images of wild birds by Richard Ditch

Subject: Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae)
Place: Phoenix, AZ, USA
Date: August 1998
Equipment: Nikon N90S, Nikkor AF-S 300/2.8, TC20E (= 600/5.6), tripod
Film: Fujichrome Sensia II 100
Exposure: Aperture priority matrix metered
Scan: Minolta Dimage, 80% of frame

Commentary: Taken in our backyard, as I sat in the open in a lawn chair on the patio, with the hummingbird about 12 feet away on the end of the agave leaf. I think of this as my "Yosemite Sam" shot because of the way the purple gorget feathers extend out on both sides of the neck.

I'm not a big fan of flash for birds, and prefer this image without fill. The iridescence of hummingbird gorgets is highly dependent on the angle of the light striking the throat in relation to the viewing angle, and I enjoy the natural shifts of the natural light. Nor do I think it necessary to arrange elaborate flash setups around feeders to "freeze" the birds in the air against an artificial background; hummingbirds have regular lives as do other birds and can be viewed and photographed at other times.