Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2020/05/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Extraordinary bird and extraordinary captures, Doug! Congratulations, and thanks for showing. ?howard > On May13, 2020, at 2356, Douglas Herr via LUG <lug at leica-users.org> > wrote: > > Over five years of trial-and-error went into making this photograph. > > In the fall of 2015 I learned of this particular spot in the Sierra Nevada > where this species can be reliably found for a few weeks of the year. > Calliope Hummingbirds are elusive at best, they winter south of the USA > border and spend their summers in the western mountains of North America, > visiting the lowlands only briefly during migration. At my home in > eastern Sacramento County California I've seen this species only once; he > hovered in front of my face for at most 15 seconds then was gone. > > This particular mountain meadow is graced with these feisty jewels for a > few weeks beginning in early May, so in 2016 I visited on 04 May, found > the birds and made a few photos. I was delighted but I wanted more: more > pixels for larger prints, more feather detail. This is the smallest of > the North American birds, long lenses have long minimum focussing > distances and to make a presentable image a lot of cropping was required. > > I also wanted to photograph this bird in overcast light. Direct sunlight > reflecting off the bird's gorget is clipped by the limited dynamic range > of nearly every image capture medium and is best tamed with diffused > overcast light. Also, the bird's favorite perch is shaded by a nearby > mountain early in the day when the bird is active, while the background is > in full sunlight. I wanted a dark forest background, not an overexposed > forest background so early on a sunny day didn't give me the > foreground/background lighting ratio I wanted. It has to be overcast > light, a rarity in California's spring. > > Overcast light also means slower shutter speeds or higher ISO or shallower > DOF, or all three. I wanted to use as low an ISO as possible, an aperture > that would yield a modicum of DOF and no subject or camera motion for > feather detail. Did I mention that overcast light in these mountains > usually comes with wind and rain? > > Over the next few years incremental improvements in equipment and > technique resulted in incrementally (to my eyes) improvements in the > pictures: > > A high-MP camera resulted in more pixels-per-bird, but the minimum focus > distance was limited by the old manual-focus 500mm lens, and extension > tubes with long lenses provide only limited benefit. > > This mountain meadow is about an hour & a half's drive from home and my > schedule is constrained by family obligations so only day trips have been > practical vs. camping out near the meadow for several days. > > Last year my first visit was on a bright sunny day, so no overcast light. > My second visit last year coincided with a late-season snowstorm that > dropped a foot of snow in the mountains, delivering a final crushing blow > to the scraggly skeleton of a willow that had been the hummingbird's > favorite perch. > > This year a financial windfall made it possible to replace the old 500mm > lens (a great lens in its time) with a modern 600mm lens with a good > close-focus limit and many handy features. My first visit was in > sunlight, which I tried to make the best of. Cool photos, but not what I > was looking for. > > bright background: > http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/trochilidae/selasphorus/calliope/selcal19.html > > far away, not enough pixels (and I'm lucky I didn't slide down the > mountain): > http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/trochilidae/selasphorus/calliope/selcal20.html > > bright sunlight, few photos worked past 10 AM because of harsh shadows and > clipped gorget highlights: > http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/trochilidae/selasphorus/calliope/selcal21.html > > I visited again yesterday with a weather forecast of mostly clouds but as > I've mentioned overcast in these mountains often means wind and rain. The > hummingbird was totally OK with the weather but I didn't feel comfortable > using my equipment in the deluge. > > Today's forecast was overcast again and with no rain until late in the day. > http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/trochilidae/selasphorus/calliope/selcal22.html > > I'm happy with this one. I would have liked a few light drizzle-drops but > that might be asking for too much. Maybe next year. > > Doug Herr > Birdman of Sacramento > http://www.wildlightphoto.com > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information