|
|
The Hummingbird Project - updated for my August 2016 Madera Canyon Photo-shoot
The sky islands in southeastern
Arizona are habitat for 12 of the 13 North American hummingbird species. Here
the summer monsoons result in a desert bloom that has historically attracted
these birds as they stop off along the fall migration routes. In recent times,
man-made feeders at local inns, lodges, parks and other areas help to assure
the birds’ survival in times of drought, allowing them to be present for us all
to appreciate.
This is one of my favorite projects. It uses high-speed digital photography with extremely short flash
durations to freeze the motion of these birds. This work offers a unique
opportunity to appreciate the details of flight close-up. These images were
taken with a system of strobes having a duration of 25 millionths of a second,
assuring that all motion will be frozen in time.
These
images are of actual hummingbirds feeding on actual flowers and are very
difficult to achieve. The flowers and backgrounds are not ‘photoshopped’ in
place. To capture these images requires knowledge of hummingbird behavior
patterns, which revolve almost exclusively around nectar sources, and mostly, a
lot of patience! Please note that
no hummingbirds were harmed in the shooting of these images. People often
wonder if the flash harms or affects the birds. Multiple flashes fire
simultaneously to provide the light required for these images, so if a bird
were to look directly into a flash it would see only a fraction of the total
amount of light. Indeed, many birds do not even flinch during the flash. Please contact us if you would like to learn how to do this! |
|
| | free web counter html
|
|
|
|
|
|