With all the hummers that have taken over The Ranch this summer, I’m spending as much time as I can to get photographs of them. In particular I want to photograph the Calliope Hummer you see above (an immature). Our smallest hummer in No America, adult males are spectacular. I have no adults in my digital library and I want to change that. The more time I spend with them, the more I just blend in and my odds improve of getting the shots I’m after. We have just two normal feeders out along with about a dozen plants that they feed from. The feeder you see here is at the corner of the home. I am able to set up the Z 9 / Z400f4.5 w/Z1.4x about 6.5′ away from the feeder and just stand with my coffee in hand there and shoot. There is an hour period of time (around 07:45) in the morning when the sun hits the feeder in such a way it bonces the light out on the incoming hummer. When they come in on the right side, I have that unique reflected light along with filtered light of the sun lighting them up.

With that, I’m just using the ambient light to get the shot, no flash. I’m shooting aperture priority and have, very unlike me, raised the ISO to 1600 giving me a shutter speed of around 1/800. The body is sharp but the wings are a blur which is what I like. There are some challenges with this system which I’ll mention in a moment. Focusing is taken care of by the Z 9, Auto-Area AF Animal eye detection. If you look in the lower left corner of the photo below, you will see the red of the feeder. I manually prefocus on that corner of the feeder then pan to the right until I don’t see the feeder. Once the hummer comes into frame, I hit the back button and the AF takes over focusing operation. This is the alley way the hummers fly up to feed. That’s where I’m taking the photos, in that alley way to the right. Using the Smallrig Lightweight Fluid Head makes it real simple and smooth to pan and get the hummer in the viewfinder. Then I lay on the hammer and let the Z 9 work its magic. It’s really been that simple.

The photos I’m after are not just hovering shots. I’m actually after a couple in particular. Below are an example of one, the gyrations a hummer goes through in changing direction of travel. Right below gives you a hint of what I’m talking about. The bottom, out of focus image though is a prime example of it. Why is it out of focus? Simple, it’s moving faster then the shutter speed can stop. The solution, flash! Why don’t I have the flash out? Because I’m being really lazy to be honest with you. And I’m also keeping a small profile so the small Calliope will keep coming in and not be intimidated by flashes. And that’s it, that’s how I’ve been coming up with these images I’ve been sharing. Hope that encourages you to do the same thing.

Our hummers are very seasonal here at The Ranch, seeing our first normally in the middle of May and the last one the middle of Sept. We have one or two adults at the start of the nesting season and not until the kids are out do we have a dozen or so buzzing about. We have fives species that visit us, the Anna, Black-chinned, Allen’s, Rufous and the sweet little Calliope Hummers here. We had none the first year here so we feel fortunate for those here this summer. We do most of our attracting with plants which definitely love all the attention they receive, from us and the hummers. We do have three feeders at opposite ends of the property. And as you might imagine, each one has been claimed as the sole property of one hummer. We’ve seen that “owner” change a couple of times. The feeder I set up to photograph at belonged at first to a Calliope, then it changed hands to an adult, male Rufous. And now there is an immature Rufous male and he is the funnest hummer I’ve photographed!

One of the great things is he’s not shy, not one bit! I’m right at the MFD of the Z400f4.5, about six feet away from the feeder just standing there with the Z 9 / Z400f4.5 / Z1.4x on a tripod with the SmallRig Fluid head (on a side note, the Z400f4.5 is a fabulous lens! Sharp, fast, light, I’m loving it!). This little guy is pretty darn smart, or clever, or devilish depending on your point of view. In his taking “ownership” of the feeder comes defending his new territory. He will occasionally sit on a nearby perch and swoop down on an intruder but he prefers to “hide” right behind the feeder and ambush interlopers! There is a period around 08:00 when the sun comes through the feeder striking him as he hovers in wait and creates a really cool light on this devilish little guy.

He will just hover there in place behind the feeder which is great for photography. The Z 9 in Auto Area AF animal eye-detect locks on faster than I can see it appear in the viewfinder. The 20fps burst catches a whole lot more hummer photos than the “empty” images I was use to. At times, the little Rufous will perch on the chain holding the feeder in wait. It occasionally will drink itself, but for the first hours of daylight, it’s full on guard duty. Then there are the times he hides hovering right alongside the Z400f4.5 to the right. Trying to figure out how to get that photo. He’s quite the character. We don’t have a name for him yet (but thinking Sly) but he sure has filled the void of the nesting House Wrens which now travel about The Ranch in a pack of seven.

I hope you’ve having the opportunity to photograph hummers this summer! These photos are using the KISS method, just using sunlight. If you need to use flash which I typically do, remember I posted this video that goes through my entire rig. Though the rig has now changed, all the basics are the same. Well, back out to my new little friend. He’s such a character but yeah, not so innocent!