Mary Ann Carrasco
October 2025 - Calliope Hummingbird
Original
About the Image(s)
Taken with Nikon Z9 and 28-400 lens. We took a drive to Apple Hill which is northeast of Sacramento. Every fall, the apple orchards and various farms sell apples and everything else apple! This year, we went a different way and came across a farm stand that also had a "pick your own bouquet" of beautiful flowers. I was taking photos of various flowers/bees when I saw a hummingbird and managed to get this shot. I edited in Photoshop/camera raw. I changed to landscape profile, adjusted the white balance, brought out color on the hummingbird, took down highlights on the flower behind the wing and cropped. I look forward to you comments.
8 comments posted
Mary Ann, having never successfully captured a hummingbird, congratulations on an excellent shot. It is so hard. What shutter speed did you use? Your cropping and processing really bring out the focus of the photo - the bird. Well done. Posted: 10/11/2025 15:21:01
Andres, thank you for your comments. My settings were f/8, 1/800, ISO 250. I believe this was one of those lucky shots as the shutter speed wasn't really that good for a hummingbird! Posted: 10/18/2025 14:07:45
The shutter speed was good enough to catch the detail of the body and show motion in the wings. That bit of motion adds to the photo. Very nice. Posted: 10/21/2025 18:27:50
Mary Ann, I appreciate how you captured the hummingbird mid-flight. They are so quick, that while they're feeding is the best time to take photos. Your cropping and adjustment on the background helps bring the focus on the hummingbird. The blur on the wings while keeping the bird's body sharp works well. I too would like to know the shutter speed that you used to keep the bird's body sharp. The bright colors of the flowers creates a cheerful image. Nicely done. Posted: 10/16/2025 14:32:12
Ruth, thank you for your comments. My shutter speed was 1/800 which isn't that good for a hummingbird....I think I lucked out on this one! Posted: 10/18/2025 14:08:41
Mary Ann, Nice shot of the hummer.. You were so lucky to find his fair share share of the apple orchard. You did a lot of correcting of the background and cropping to bring us in to the action. It would have been nice if the flowers were a bit more indistinct and the bird a bit brighter but there was nothing you could do about that. As it is, it is a wonderful capture. I don't know if you had enough pixels to do this suggestion, which would be to crop way in so that only the bird and flower he was attacking were in the frame. The flower that is by his tail could be removed using the clone tool, so you would have only the bird and one flower. Posted: 10/20/2025 19:33:06
Hi Mary Ann,
You were able to capture a good shot of the hummingbird in flight, and to freeze its wing motion. The bird and the flower are sharp with all the details.
I'd prefer to remove the flower on the left since it touches the wings of the bird, and to blur the background on the lower left corner a bit more to make the main subject stand out more. Nice shot! Posted: 10/22/2025 01:58:31
You were able to capture a good shot of the hummingbird in flight, and to freeze its wing motion. The bird and the flower are sharp with all the details.
I'd prefer to remove the flower on the left since it touches the wings of the bird, and to blur the background on the lower left corner a bit more to make the main subject stand out more. Nice shot! Posted: 10/22/2025 01:58:31
Mary Ann. Wow! I've yet to capture a shot of a hummingbird that would be worth sharing. Congratulations! Posted: 10/22/2025 16:08:55