Fall Migration or Goodbye to the Hummingbirds

We are definitely moving into fall because over the last weekend most of my hummingbirds moved on. Some probably headed over to the coast and others likely moved further south. Migration is on especially for the hummingbirds. This afternoon when I went out into the backyard to do some hummingbird photography there were only three hummingbirds left. As usual Papaya the blasted cat showed up to scare them away. I didn't mind too much because the hummingbirds aren't that afraid of the cat unless she is right next to the feeder. As soon as she had passed by they were right back. I created almost sixty images and after uploading them to the computer I had about eight images that I really liked. Overall this image was my favorite. It symbolizes fall really well. God's blessings upon your weekend, chris This image of an Ann's Hummingbird was created with a Canon 7D MkII camera and a Canon 100-400 IS V.1 lens at 220mm with a 12mm extension tube added to it for close focusing. Lighting was provided by four Canon 540EZ Speedlights set to 1/64th power. The camera settings used were M mode, ISO 400, F 11.0 at 1/160th of a sec. If you want more details of how to photograph hummingbirds please check out chapter six of my book, Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography at your local library or on Amazon. It isavailable both in hardbound and a s an Ebook. #teamcanonusa, #teamcanon, #secretsofbackyardbirdphotography

Fall Portrait

This morning I went out to the photoblind to create some more images for the, "Off the Hook", series of images I'm working on. I set up a separate feeder for the squirrels off to the side of the pond so they wouldn't bother me when I was photographing birds. After sitting in the blind for about fifteen minutes the birds started pouring in. At first there were a lot of Steller's Jays. No other birds would show up when they were around! Later the chickadees and some nuthatches stopped by. The lighting started to get too bright around ten and I was thinking about packing it up when a Western Gray Squirrel showed up. I sat watching the squirrel when it hit me that with the bright fall background this would make a great fall portrait. I zoomed in tight on the squirrel waiting for it to lift its head to look around and take a break from feeding. After a couple of tries I got it. Fall is almost upon us and this is a great image that shows off the fall colors. God's light and love to all, chris This image was created with a Canon EOS 7D MKII camera and a Canon 100-400IS v.1 lens at 400mm. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX Speedlight set to -1 2/3rds stops. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 400, F 8.0 at 1/2,500th of a sec. #teamcanonusa, #teamcanon

Sometimes It Pays to Chimp

It's always good to look back and learn from your failures. Not to dwell on them but use them as a tool to improve in the future. Today was one of those days. I should have chimped more. A lot more! Chimping is what some photographers do after taking a picture with a digital camera and look at the image on the back of the camera to see the result. It got its name from the sounds they make when looking at the image. "Ooo-oo-oo!", like a Chimpanzee. Chimping has the positive benefit of checking to see that your images are working out. That the composition and exposure are correct. It can be detrimental if you do it too much and basically miss out on photographing anything else and miss a lot of images. This morning I was photographing birds coming into my little waterhole. The lighting was perfect and I thought I was getting a lot of nice images.I should have chimped a few more of them to make sure they were properly composed. All of the images I had created had the tails of the birds cut off. It can pay to chimp. God's love and blessings upon your day, chris Canon EOS 7D MKII camera and a Canon 100-400IS v.1 lens. Fill light from a Canon 550 EX Speedlight. #teamcanon