# Here is a story I sent to Birds & Blooms on winter hummers



## jack58 (Nov 23, 2010)

Here is my story on yesterdays snow storm and hummers:
http://1-4u-computer-graphics.com/SnowHummersNov22.htm


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## Derrel (Nov 23, 2010)

Cool photos! The calories, and the heat lamp, you provided might have saved their lives!

The web page is well worth visiting, just to see the pics!


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## tirediron (Nov 23, 2010)

I officially hate you!  


I've been trying to get hummingbird shots like that for over a year now, and have never managed anything remotely close.  Outstanding images and great work.


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## jack58 (Nov 23, 2010)

tirediron said:


> I officially hate you!
> 
> 
> I've been trying to get hummingbird shots like that for over a year now, and have never managed anything remotely close.  Outstanding images and great work.



Thank you. I have a lot more pictures of Hummingbirds on my website:
Photography by Jack Moskovita


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## tirediron (Nov 23, 2010)

jack58 said:


> tirediron said:
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> > I officially hate you!
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Wonderful images!  Given me that much more incentive to try and get some decent shots of my winter hummers!!


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## icassell (Nov 23, 2010)

Jack, you've done well for your tiny friends!  Great images, but I am equally impressed by your efforts to keep them warm.


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## jack58 (Nov 23, 2010)

tirediron said:


> jack58 said:
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> > tirediron said:
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Patience is the key to getting the shots. Sometimes I wait hours, days to get the ones I want. I FROZE getting some of those shots yesterday.

I take it you have some Anna's up there? Tough, ornery little birds!



icassell said:


> Jack, you've done well for your tiny friends!  Great images, but I am equally impressed by your efforts to keep them warm.


I love these little guys. I don't know how the little hummers survive this, but they do. It's suppose to get down to the low teens tonight. I hope that is not too tough on them. All the birds, (I feed a bunch of them) were extra hungry today. 

Thanks for the nice comments everybody.

Hey Mike.... Dan Mason, my best friend from Edmonton, says he's met you.


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## jack58 (Dec 19, 2010)

tirediron said:


> jack58 said:
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> > tirediron said:
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I notice you live just north of me in S. Vancouver. In the Spring, Summer & Fall, you get the Anna's and Rufous's. I think the Anna's winter at your place too? In fact the Rufous's migrate right through my place, (making stops at my feeders) on their annual 5,000-6,000 mile migration round trip from Mexico to Canada! Amazing... these little creatures.

Well, the 6-7 hummers all survived the cold snap (8-12 degrees) we had with the high winds and snow. Amazing a tiny thing like that could survive that.

Here are three shots I took the past week of the front yard beauty.


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## tinmann (Jan 8, 2011)

darn 

i never knew humming birds are soo colorful 

Kudos


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## SabrinaO (Jan 11, 2011)

Awww.... this is so sweet!! They love you!


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## jack58 (Jan 11, 2011)

Three more shots from a couple days ago when it was around 30 degrees here:


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## jack58 (Jan 19, 2011)

Yet a few more... still fairly cold around 30-35.


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## Gunner19 (Jan 20, 2011)

Great shots you have there! It brings out the vibrant colours and every single details of the birds :thumbup:


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## jack58 (Jan 24, 2011)

Yet a couple more... This Male Anna Hummingbird was shot at just as the sun was going down (for the wing glow) at a winter blooming honeysuckle bush.


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## seymourphilips (Jan 28, 2011)

great pics amazing job!


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## auntiephoto (Jan 28, 2011)

OMG!  Beautiful pictures.  I live in Massachusetts and am only able to take pics in the summer.  I'm an amateur photographer and hopefully, someday will be able to take pics like yours.  Any tips?  Do you have to spend a lot of time editing?


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## R.D. (Jan 30, 2011)

wow!.. I don't know what else to say, these captured everything! I really love the colors that were brought out, especially the male who was guarding his feeder!


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## jack58 (Jan 30, 2011)

jack58 said:


> Yet a couple more... This Male Anna Hummingbird was shot at just as the sun was going down (for the wing glow) at a winter blooming honeysuckle bush.


Adding to the above pictures as I almost didn't see this shot of this Anna catching an insect. Normally they open their beak wide, and still may have, as I may have caught this at the very beginning. This shot was NOT planned as everything happens in split seconds with these hummers.

Apparently it is a rare shot to get on film and both Birds & Bloom / Smithsonian magazine has express interest in featuring it somewhere in their magazine.


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## R.D. (Jan 30, 2011)

> Adding to the above pictures as I almost didn't see this shot of this Anna catching an insect. Normally they open their beak wide, and still may have, as I may have caught this at the very beginning. Apparently it is a rare shot to get on film and both Birds & Bloom / Smithsonian magazine has express interest in featuring it somewhere in their magazine.



Congrats.. that is quite a treat of a picture. For those who don't shoot much specifically birds it may be harder to appreciate the difficulty or talent involved, not so with this one. Perhaps one of the most intriguing hummer shots I've seen on the web.


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## FoggyLens (Feb 8, 2011)

Love them! Nice work!


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## Ginu (Feb 12, 2011)

Amazing shots, very well done. 

Any chance you can share the secret in setting something like this? Just curious in the camera, lens, flashes and setup for these fast hummers.


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## jack58 (Feb 12, 2011)

Ginu said:


> Amazing shots, very well done.
> 
> Any chance you can share the secret in setting something like this? Just curious in the camera, lens, flashes and setup for these fast hummers.



I used a Nikon D300 w/Nikkor 70-300 VR w/SB800 
setting such as this:
f/5.3 (to throw background out of focus)
1/250 sec (flash set -2/3)
ISO 800 (to control how much f stop to use)
Spot meter (to get precise metering)
A mono-pod or tri-pod is important as any movement scares the hummers... you must be ready when they come.

Time of the day helps... and I chose late afternoon to dusk to get the sun back-lite wings.

The real secret is to know where they're going to be and to be waiting for them.
In my case, sometimes I have to wait a couple hours just to get the shot I want. 
This particular time was about a hour wait...
It's called *patience*. kinda like bow hunting, only with a camera.

As for the hummer catching the bug... that is pure luck of the draw.


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## Loose Canon (Feb 12, 2011)

Stunning!


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## Ginu (Feb 12, 2011)

jack58 said:


> Ginu said:
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> > Amazing shots, very well done.
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Very well captured and yes I figured patience would be the key here and the use of a tripod. Also have to say the setup with the headlamps is just brilliant, I'm sure the little hummers enjoy the heat. I have to do a little searching to find places with humming birds. So far I think I've seen them once or twice while camping out in Kelowna.


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## jack58 (Mar 27, 2011)

Here are a couple more from the other day


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## mmartin (Mar 27, 2011)

Awesome colors!


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## ColoringSilence (Mar 28, 2011)

wow.  Just beautiful!


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