Sunday, April 11, 2010

By George....I Think I'm Gettin' It! (freezing the motion)

I took these pics yesterday and I was finally able to achieve my goal of freezing the motion of the hummingbird's wings!  Woo hoo, I'm so excited!  I've been practicing with different shutter speeds and found that 1/3200 sec. does the trick, but because I increased my shutter speed, I also had to change my ISO to 800, which I don't like to do because you get more noise in the photo.  I definitely do see some noise (grainyness) in these photos, so next time I will try 1/2500 sec. or 1/2000 sec. and see if I am still able to freeze the motion and also get enough light with my ISO set to 400.  A few days ago, I tried a shutter speed of 1/1600 sec. with ISO 400, but wasn't able to freeze the motion of the wings as well....I'll be posting those photos soon. 
All of these photos were taken in TV mode......Aperture f/5.6, Shutter Speed 1/3200 sec., ISO 800,  Focal Length 250 mm
It has been so much fun practicing and learning as I go. If you've ever tried to take pics of hummingbirds, you know just how challenging it is, but hey I love a good challenge!

***(click on the pictures to see a closeup)






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19 comments:

  1. How neat to have hummingbirds that you can photograph. I need to plant some more of their favorite flowers to try and attract more.

    I don't think there is too much grainy-ness. I love how when i enlarged that last photo you can see the detain al the top of the wings.

    Nice job - your photo's look like someone who has been shooting awhile - not just 4 months!

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  2. I'm impressed! These turned out so good. I don't see the graininess - that little bird is clear as can be!

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  3. You've nailed it! Awesome capture of the hummingbird.

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  4. Look at you go!!! Fabulous! I've played around a bit with shutter speed-you are inspiring me to play a little more with it. Whoo hoo!

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  5. those are so cool and beautiful!!! Knowing how fast those little wings are going, it is pretty amazing you were able to freeze them!!!!

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  6. You did a fantastic job on these pictures!

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  7. the details are amazing ! what a fantastic serie !
    bravo

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  8. Oh my goodness DJ, these are your best pictures yet! SO GOOD! and YES, you need to teach me! :) Sorry I've been a slacker in getting the pic's up of Gavin and Abby, I have been so lazy when it comes to downloading them onto my computer. I will try to get to it later today! :) Also, got the text from Michelle D. last night about baby Brady. I am so worried about him. Have been praying hard for the little man and Mommy, and family. ♥ you!

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  9. Valerie, I've actually been shooting for a year and 4 months. I got my camera Dec. 24, 2008! I accidentally wrote 2009 on my profile, so I'm glad you mentioned that....I just changed it. OOPS! :)

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  10. they turned out great! i hear you about the ISO.my camera does pretty well with high ISO, but i still like to keep it uner 400 if i can..anyway, well done! i know how hard it is to get hummers in flight!

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  11. A beautiful little bird and you have taken some really great photos of it.

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  12. Fabulous..you've done an excellent job and I don't see how you could improve! What a beautiful creature your sharing!!

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  13. Great frozen action! You probably won't be able to drop the shutter much below your current setting. Hummers typically fly at about 50 wing beats per second. Possibly away around the high iso would be to freeze them with flash.

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  14. I left you this comment on my wordpress blog...

    I went to your blog and saw your shots at 3200 speeds. Amazing detail. There is a program you can purchase or use as it is. I used it as a free standing version for some time and then relented and bought it. The only difference was one or two less steps with the purchased version. It takes both color and camera noise in photos with high ISO readings. Or most of it. You have to learn to walk a fine line to get things just about right. I use it primarily to remove noise in photos shot in adverse conditions or in extreme crops or enlargements. I sometimes leave comments on people's Blogger blogs if there is a spot to use an Open ID. Otherwise I would have to leave it under my Blogger name and then you'd end up at my old Blogger address. LOL Go to www.imagenomic.com and flirt with the Portrait version but it is super expensive, and then take home the Noiseware Standard Edition, version 2.6. You can download it and use it free. Or buy it later on.

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  15. Debra,

    Using flash to freeze action is a subject much to long to address in a comment. There is a lot of good web resources; just Google away and you will find all you need. Here is a link to one that touches on the subject http://www.dshed.net/digitised/neighbourhood/resources/shutter_speed.html

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  16. These are beautiful! You should enter stuff in the the Pioneer Woman's contests...http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/

    Polorizers are neat, glad you got one. I dropped mine in a creek but think I have another somewhere. They really make clouds pop at the right time of day/angle and take the reflection off water and things giving better saturation. I need to get a split neutral density filter someday. You'd love one I bet. Only one side is shaded dark for things like bright skies, so they don't get blown out.

    Glad your posting on your blog again. I missed when you stopped for awhile. Tell Uncle Andy hello from me!

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  17. Debra, such amazing photos! I love Hummingbirds and you definitely captured the beauty and playfulness of that little guy!

    Great job!

    hugs,
    Debbie

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  18. Awesome captures of the hummingbird. They are so pretty and your images show the beautiful detail.

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