Every summer we have a group of friends that stop in to party with us here in the Wind River Canyon.  They're a colorful lot, but not too noisy when things really get wild.  They drink all my sugary drinks, as much as I can make for them.  Camping among the pines is what they really enjoy, not our cabin.  They buzz all over the canyon during the hottest days of summer, and never seem to run out of gas.  They're very short, not that there's anything wrong with that.  Most of these friends of ours are less than four inches from head to toe.  Did I forget to mention these good friends of ours are hummingbirds?  Must have slipped my mind.

     Of the thousands of photographs I shoot of our hummingbirds every single summer, there is always one that sticks in my mind and holds my attention.  It's always a hummingbird-in-flight picture, because they are the most difficult of all; the most challenging.  It takes all my skill from a half century of practice, and only one will drive me crazy like this.  Oh, there's always a handful of pictures that everyone loves, and will end up on my website HogbatsPhotography.com.  But, this one photo will get under my skin and talk to me.  It's a feeling deep down that words alone cannot fully explain.  It's a picture of a hummingbird that has a power to almost speak in a forgotten language of art.  I don't mean all of this to sound cryptic, but those of you passionately interested in art will understand how a picture can take hold of you:  Renoir has always been this way for me.  This hummingbird photograph is already printed 11 by 14 and in a wood frame, leaning on the back of the couch, my wife unwilling to give it up, yet. Rufous Hummingbird male in Flight - Wind River CanyonRufous Hummingbird male photographed in flight in the Wind River Canyon, Wyoming.      This is a male Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus), and one that I'm sure I've known for years, because of the way he reacts to my presence.  He was probably born here in the Wind River Canyon, as many of the mating hummingbirds are now.  If they're successful they will return, which is why our hummingbird population has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade and a half.  Pattern recognition is how they find me summer after summer.  This magical male was hovering less than ten feet from me on a late, hot afternoon in late July.  

How to Photograph Hummingbirds in Flight----

     A digital camera that can shoot at least six frames of a second is a must, the more the better is always best.  If you can have patience and work your way close, a 70-200mm lens is a good choice, as good ones are razor sharp.  I like to set the exposure manually, because no on-board computer-chip is as fast as a hummingbird!  Shoot everything in life as a RAW file, period.  

     In-camera sharpness should be set on the high side, white-balance is set on daylight, but can be adjusted later for effect.  Obviously, high-speed continuous shooting is needed, and must be practiced on other fast moving things; kids, birds, deer and football players are good practice.  I prefer spot-metering because all those rectangles cannot react quickly enough.  This means eye-hand coordination needs to get faster and more precise.  Practice, practice and yes, even more practice, till you can hit that fast moving target with that spot in your camera.

     It's the camera in your hands, and your eyes, that will come together as a wicked single unit when your subject shoots near you.  Dedication to quality nectar feeders is absolute, and I'm fanatical about mine.  But I won't lie to you in this blog, it's taken me ten long years, of every day practice, and over twenty-thousand frames a year, for me to have the confidence to photograph hummingbirds in-flight.  

     This summer's favorite hummingbird picture was shot @ 1/3200th, f/6.3, ISO 500, with a Canon 7D and a Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens.  The white-balance was warmed up a bit in Canon's Digital Photo Professional software.  Saturation, exposure, highlights and shadows were all increased or brightened.  A saved Tiff-file was opened in Lightroom, where sharpness, color and contrast was "punched up."  I added a vignette because I like them, and it leads the eye toward the subject at hand....my Rufous Hummingbird in flight!  

     Modern digital photography is much like art of the past, it's limited only by your own imagination.  I can take this little hummingbird file and make it my own work of art.  The background is quite simple really, two panes of glass and a window frame that just happens to be in the way....and it's all just serendipity, baby!

Photography, digital darkroom, writing, printing, framing and general BS----

Michael John Balog - *Hogbats Photography - Wind River Canyon - Wyoming

Thank you for your time and reading my Wind River Canyon Blog.