Hummingbirds!

Hola, I’ve been very busy these past few months with some photography tours, and I’ve had the chance to do a fair bit of work with hummingbirds. In the tropics, using multiple flash is the best way to do hummingbird photography due to the generally low light levels. Nonetheless, and in spite of a recent trend toward using lots of flashes, I find that less is more when it comes to lighting for these images. Too many flashes and you lose the interesting texture and shadow that draws our eyes to hummingbirds in the first place. And sometimes I use a bare minimum number of flashes to simulate a shaft of sunlight streaming through the rainforest. This is a new technique in hummingbird lighting, and it gives a really dramatic look.

I hope you enjoy these photos. All were taken with the Canon 5D and either the Canon 300 mm f2.8 or a Tokina 80-200 f2.8 lens. And of course, all are full frame — no cropping and only the minimum of post-processing work! All will be available soon in the Deep Green Photography Fine Art Print Gallery.

Cheers from Costa Rica,

Greg