hummingbird I Have My Eyes On You - Click image to view larger!

Thanks for viewing/comments! .. One thing about shooting with a 2X TC III +

500mm @ 1000mm is that one does not have to worry about the background

bokeh (especially at less than 15 feet from the subject) ... :-)

Very nice image!  What kind of shutter speed would be necessary to make the wings look still?  

Jerry

Thanks Jerry!  I normally use SS from 1/800 to 1/1250 but the blur or sharpness of the wings is at the mercy of luck for the most part because it depends on how fast the bird is flying/hovering and depend on the position that you would catch it. When you do catch it at the maximum position (back or front) before the wings turn the other way then it will looks more like frozen. In any event, an SS of around 1/1000 or less will, in general, does not give you a sharp wing image in my experience.

The only way to make the wing truely frozen is to shoot in the shade or low light condition with multiple flashes at low power setting. However, with naturnal bright light I think you would need luck (to hit the moment the wings max out and turn back) and as high a shutter speed as you can use.

I thnk the infor. in the link below explain a bit more :

http://www.digitalbirdphotography.com/7.7.html

Here's another link on freezing HB wings :

http://www.dyesscreek.com/miscellaneous_pages/howto_1.html

Thanks for the kind words Rejith! Greetings from SoCal! :-)

The Allens are glad that you are back, paying attention to them  again. So are we! Well captured!

I really like the diagonal composition and the twin trumpets of the flowers that seem to be competing for the birds attention.

That was a great queston posed by Jerry, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading your explanation and thoughts on the matter.

Compliments & Best Regards

Alf

Thanks Greg & Verena for the kind words! :-)

Thanks Alf! Good to hear from you. :-)

This image should be used as a fine advertisement for EF 2X III.

I have a kinko brand and Have use it once and never thought of using it again.

Thanks for the links above.

Thanks Saad! I bought the 2X TC III  about 6 months ago and I rarely shoot with the 1.4X TC II since or even with the bare 500mm (without the 2X TC III). Quality does loose some but it still wonderful and allow me to reach / get shot that I never could get before - Nothing like a good tool!

The down side is that the 2X with an F4 lens becomes F8 and for old camera it means one has to use a 1D body to get the single center auto focus point. However, a friend told me the 5D Mark III with a new firmware upgrade will auto focus also. I look forward to upgrade my 5D II to 5D III if that's the case since that will allow me not having to buy a 1DX at twice the price of the 5D III to shoot fullframe . Happy shooting!