Hummingbird

Hey gang. I finally found some Hummer's to photo on my trip to S.C.

This is one of a new folder full of a days work at a garden taken from a

walkway at a swamp. Went for Gators, but it was over 97deg all week!

The gators were smart, I figured I was an idiot for standing out there for

hours for abour 4 hours chasing after these guys! It was well worth the

sweat. Please view larger. This should help anyone who is debating over

the Canon 100-400mm vs. the fixed 400mm. There was another guy

there shooting a 7D with the old 100-400, and it forced me to think. With

IS, it made it easy for him to stay on the move. Plus, there is the

shorter focal length of close to half the distance. But, after chasing

these guys around on a monopod, and going back to the old Compaq...

I don't miss it. The 100-400mm can't touch this sharpness. Thanks.

Good catch Kenneth! I think if you use a filled flash it would be nicer, I normally use 2 filled flashes (at least one is good) at low power (depend of lighting) just to bring the shadow areas out as well as getting the catch-lighted eye. The thing about hummer is that you have to shoot them eveyday to get close is what I've found. You stop a couple week then it's back to 15-20+ feet away again.

Amazing capture, well done

Thank Tm. I thought the same thing as far as flash. I don't use one currently other than the cameras when I may need it for stills as slow speeds. I am looking at flashes now to fix this lacking area. It one I could use help with. I always shoot for natural light, but want to fill badly for shots like this. I'm studying the curtain sync's to understand it. How far will it reach at F5.6 with my 400mm? It's minimum focal distance is 11.5ft, so it's gotta be able to get there. Most of the folder was taken at about 12-15ft. It was awesome. The problem with this lens is mainly that, other than no IS. Not sure why the minimum is 11.5, but it works. I am looking to sell my 70-200 F4 IS, and when I'm ready to, the 400mm to go for the 500mm F4.5 IS, pending my year end bonuses come in. I can find one for about 4,500 it seems. Any help or suggestions on flashes (camera mounted for fill) would be very helpful! Thanks again Tm.

Thanks Igal!