Duke Gardens

Our trip to Raleigh, North Carolina included a visit to Duke Gardens. Surrounded by the colorful landscape, I immediately began taking photos. That was important, since it started to rain twenty minutes into our visit. We had no choice but to head back to the car – getting completely drenched on the way! My camera was ok, since I protected it by holding it under the hem of my shirt. After a soggy ride home, we changed clothes and went on with our day. Duke Gardens is a glorious place to walk, relax, and enjoy photography. It was disappointing that our visit was short, but I hope to return someday.

• All photos: Canon 60D, 50mm 1.8 prime lens, manual, evaluative, RAW, handheld. I shot the last photo in the rain under a leafy (and leaky) gazebo!

  

  

  
  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  
  

  

  
  

 

 

North Carolina Farmer’s Market

We visited my daughter last weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina. We had a great time, although rain caused us to alter some of our plans. One place of interest that offered shelter from the rain was the State Farmer’s Market, located just minutes from Amy’s home. The colors and textures are a nature photographer’s dream. We arrived shortly before closing, so I had about 30 minutes to choose my photography subjects and a few delicious items to purchase. With two large buildings to explore, I could have stayed there for hours!

All photos: Canon 60D, manual, handheld, RAW, evaluative, ISO 640, 50mm, f/5.6, shutter speeds ranged from 1/30 – 1/250.

My Hummingbird Afternoon: A Setup For Success

Yesterday we picked up several types of flowering plants at a nursery. I wanted to try a technique I learned from Tricia Booker’s photography blog. She explained how she placed flowers near a hummingbird feeder to attract the birds and provide a backdrop for her photographs. With a few additional items, I felt this idea could work for me too!

The most convenient place for my tripod was the screened porch. That meant placing a feeder opposite the porch door, just outside the landing. So my husband and I stacked several large, abandoned flowerpots full of garden soil. Then we pushed a tall shepherd’s hook into the top flowerpot and secured it to the landing with a bracket. I hung a hummingbird feeder on the shepherd’s hook, then all I had to do was arrange the new flowers under and around the feeder. I used bricks and wooden blocks to adjust the height.

While I arranged the flowers, a curious hummingbird appeared two feet in front of my face, hovering for about 5 seconds! It was a juvenile male. He claimed the feeder as his own and spent the rest of the day checking out the flowers, feeding, and staying alert for interlopers. He even objected to bumblebees landing on his flowers, chasing and jabbing at them with his beak. Throughout the afternoon, hummingbird fights broke out that included body slamming and frantic chirping. No casualties resulted, although an adult male was seen rapidly diving (or falling) into ground ivy. When he came to his senses, he buzzed around under the ivy until he found his way out. He seemed unharmed, except maybe for his pride!

My new setup was a success, allowing me to shoot partially hidden and giving my hummingbird photos a flowery ambiance. I hope to try again when bright sunlight will allow for a faster shutter speed. Have you learned tips for photographing hummingbirds or other birds? Please share your success in the comment section below!

All photos: Canon 60D, Manual, RAW format, metering mode; center-weighted average.

Photos 1-4 and 6-10, ISO 3200, 200mm, f/11, 1/320.

Photos 5 and 11: ISO 2400, 200mm, f/11, 1/250.

 

 

Poetry of the Earth

Journaling: Hints of autumn are renewing my energy for nature photography! Cool nights and warm days are also renewing my flowering plants. I am thankful for the butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds who visit my flowers; coming together as poetry of the Earth.

CVW_QuickStarts_1, font: AMC_ChalkTalk.

All photos: Canon 60D, RAW format, handheld (except hummingbird photo).

Click on photos and layout to enlarge.

ISO 500, 100mm, f/7.1, 1/160.

Dark pink blossom from my Grandmother’s Pincushion plant.

ISO 1000, 100mm, f/4.0, 1/1250.

Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail visiting the Butterfly Bush.

ISO 400, 100mm, f/3.5, 1/250.

Ruby-throated hummingbird surveying the territory before drinking at the window feeder.

ISO 400, 100mm, f/2.8, 1/200.

A bumblebee intent on gathering pollen.

ISO 400, 100mm, f/5.6, 1/1000.

Sweet William blossoms. A favorite of butterflies and bees.

ISO 500, 100mm, f/5.0, 1/200.

Sungold cherry tomato plants. The stalks have grown wild; allowing some fruit to rest on the retaining wall.

ISO 500, 100mm, f/8.0, 1/500.

Another favorite of bees, Sedum blossoms start out very light pink and darken over a period of weeks.

Portrait of a Hummingbird

He is a trusting young bird, so I am now able to set the camera 12 inches from the feeder. During one of his visits yesterday, he stopped moving for a moment (except for sticking out his tongue), allowing me to take a macro portrait.

I tested a relatively high ISO setting during this shoot to compensate for an overcast sky and shaded feeder. If you are a photographer and use Photoshop, you might be interested in how I edited this photo for noise. I usually reduce noise in Lightroom 3. But for this photo, I tested the ‘reduce noise’ feature in Photoshop CS5 and was happy with the result.

• I duplicated the photo, then Filter>Noise>Reduce Noise. Basic panel: Strength 8, Preserve Details, 77%, Reduce Color Noise, 90%, Sharpen Details, 10%. In Advanced panel, I set the red and green channels to: Strength 4, Preserve Details: 60%. Blue channel: Strength 7, Preserve Details, 60%.

Canon 60D, ISO 1600, 100mm, f/4.0, 1/80.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

The Smallest Bird in the World

I tried a different approach to photographing the smallest bird in the world! After placing my camera on a small, flexible tripod, I placed it on the kitchen countertop about 3 feet from the window. I wanted to get a different perspective and get close enough to use a macro lens. But manual focusing was more difficult, since touching the lens caused the tripod to bounce a little. I noticed the hummingbird tends to hover and feed at about the same place in front of the feeder. So I decided to focus on the bird once, then just shoot during his next visit (hoping he would position himself in the plane of focus for a second or two). It was the easiest shoot so far and produced two photos that I like.

The young male shown here had the feeder almost exclusively to himself yesterday. The adults stayed at the other feeders in the yard. The youngster has learned to accept my presence, even when I move slowly a few feet from him. He usually looks directly at me and always checks out the camera no matter where I  place it in the kitchen.

Although the hummingbird has a tiny body, his brain is 4.2% of his body weight, the largest proportion in the bird kingdom. This particular bird’s curiosity is amazing! Recently, my husband and I were standing side by side at the kitchen window watching goldfinches eat seeds from my basil flowers. We froze when the young male suddenly showed up at the feeder. He drank as usual, but before flying away he paused and looked at us; moving his little head back and forth to get a good look at each of us! The hummingbirds always seem to know when something is different from their previous experience!

Both photos: Canon 60D, ISO 1600, 100mm, f/4.0, 1/200.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

The macro photos make the hummingbird look huge! To provide perspective on his size; the flower shape of the feeder measures 1.5 in. (3.8 cm). His body is about 3.3 in (8.5 cm) from the tip of his beak to the tip of his tail.

Hummingbird facts I have discussed on my blog come from World of Hummingbirds. The information on this site is comprehensive and entertaining!

Hummingbird Quirks

Observing the Ruby-throated hummingbirds revealed some quirks of the juvenile and the female. They are the most active, so I ‘know’ them best.

All photos: Canon 60D on a tripod.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

The juvenile male  (identified by a few red and gold throat feathers) is the least wary of humans. He visits the feeder more often than the adults. And he is more likely to perch for a few seconds after he drinks. When he perches, he looks left and right almost constantly, sometimes angling his head in comical positions.

(This photo is similar to the one included with my Juvenile Hummingbird post.)

ISO 400, 370mm, f/5.6, 1/40.

The juvenile male does not hover long before drinking. And he usually drinks without harassment from the adult birds. I read that at some point, the female will begin treating juveniles like other birds who invade her territory and begin chasing them from the feeder. I guess it prepares them for territorial issues they will face as adults!

ISO 800, 200mm, f/4.0, 1/40.

The youngster sometimes peers directly into the camera. Or so it seems!

ISO 500, 200mm, f/4.0, 1/160.

The adult female (white tail feathers, no red spots on throat) tends to hover in front of the feeder for several seconds before, during, and after feeding. While hovering, she looks up and turns her entire body left and right to survey the area. I think she has claimed this feeder as her own, since males rarely show up here. When they do, she chases them all day.

ISO 800, 220mm, f5.6, 1/60

One of the female’s quirks is to investigate the area under the opening of the feeder. She moves all around this area,  poking her bill and extending her tongue as well. I have no idea why she does this, but I think it is interesting. Update: Thanks to a comment by one of the readers of this post, I think it is likely she was looking for an insect snack!

ISO 640, 200mm, f/4.0, 1/160.

Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird

A male started feeding at the window feeder yesterday! The female strongly objects to sharing her personal food source, but manages to drink when she is not engaged in territorial battles. All the birds look healthy and will soon begin their migration to the western states of America or Central America. I will miss seeing them every day!

Canon 60D, ISO 640, 200mm, f4, 1/250

Click on the photos to enlarge.