Hummingbirds
K. W. Bridges & Nancy Furumoto
2022 © K. W. Bridges & Nancy Furumoto
Darting here and there, Sword-like beaks probe for nectar, Spring flowers are pleased.
Website: www.kimbridges.com
Hummingbirds at the South Coast Botanical Garden This is a brief photoessay showing hummingbirds photographed in the South Coast Botanical Garden. The purpose of the photo shoot was to test the bird eye-focus system of the Sony Alpha-1 camera. We found two areas with hummingbirds. One place, with lots of purple-flowered plants, had a half-dozen very active birds. Individuals in this population rarely sat still when they were in this colorful floral patch. They would dash from whiteflower to white-flower, pausing at a flower for little more than a second or two as they took a sip of nectar. It was common to see yellow pollen sticking to a bird’s beak. It’s obvious the flowers are getting cross-pollinated. The second hummingbird area was a small set of trees draped with orange flowers. Here, there was only one or two birds. The activity seemed much less frenetic. More acrobatic flying was required for the birds to reach the nectar in these flowers.
Technical Notes Photo Location South Coast Botanical Garden, Palos Verdes Estates, California May 25, 2022 Image Capture Camera: Sony Alpha-1 Lens: Sony 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 G-Master OSS Tele Converter: Sony 2X Post Processing (Photoshop) Raw photos were adjusted for exposure and a few other settings. Images were cropped to a 9:16 ratio. Topaz DeNoise AI was applied followed by Nik Collection Color Efex Pro 4 for detail enhancement and darken/lighten center adjustment. Final processing used Topaz Sharpen AI.
Notes Most of the pictures were shot at a focal length of 800 mm, with a few around 400 mm. All exposures were at f/11. Shutter speeds ranged from 1/640 to 1/1600. The ISO varied between 320 and 2500. All shots were taken handheld. The focus challenges, particularly with the birds flying among the purple flowers, were their speed and the fact that they were often partially hidden in the vegetation. This was a fast-action exercise! Please note that this was, essentially, a “first-light” exercise. It is highly likely that practice, more appropriate camera settings, and other photo locations will produce a better set of images.