hummingbird Allens Hummingbird - Click image to view larger!

Your bird photography keeps getting better and better.  To capture one of these guys sitting and so close is phenomenal... Mike 

Thanks Mr. Mancil! This particular guy does not care about human, he was perching on a wire at my chest level while walk right by (did not see him) till I was about 1 feet from him that he took of and landed on this tree 12 feet away.  I walked back to the tree where he perch and took this shot.  He's so bold and probably because it's a walking/biking trail with so many people going by daily and he's so used to human traffic . .. and that allow me to shoot him in great morning light at minimum distance (15 feet) for the 500mm . The only way to get better image is to take out the extension tube to get closer than the minimum distance and increase the image size (like macro photography), LOL!

Using the 1.4x or 2x TC also alows shooting under the minimum distance but there a degradation of quality. Probaly not much with the 1.4x but more substantial with the 2x for sure.