5D Mk IV – EF70-200 f/2.8L – 1/320, f/4, ISO 1250

Finally got a pic (actually a lot of pics) of our elusive hummingbird. From a technical standpoint, the pic isn’t perfect, but I attribute that to how I had to go about getting it. I went outside and stood on the deck out back. I had the lens maxed out at 200mm. I soon realized this was not a tenable solution – the lens is just plain heavy. I brought the tripod out and took other pics of things, windmills, Mason, a bee, but then thought I’d still try for the hummingbird. I pointed the camera toward the bird feeder and stood there, and stood there, and stood there. Finally, the bird flew right over me – and I was not ready…

So I went and sat down in a chair. This time, the bird came back while I was sitting there. Then I had an idea – get the remote control. I grabbed it and set it up on the camera. I had to set the ISO high (1250), and I focused on a single point on the feeder. I then grabbed a beer and sat down in a chair where I was hidden. Within a minute I heard the buzzing. I peeked to confirm and started hitting the remote. I took a ton of pics and most could have been the PotD. However, because the feeder is in the shade, I had to balance the exposure carefully. This meant a higher ISO, a mid level aperture, and a shutter speed of 1/320. this shutter speed precluded getting a crisp pic of the wings. You’d need a shutter speed of at least 1/2000 or higher.

Anyway, we got the pic!