Hummingbird images and digital creations

How to create memorable images of hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are the perfect models for backyard photographers.

Not only are they regular visitors to our gardens, their destinations are often very predictable, including the flowers they are most likely to go to and even where they enjoy perching for periods of time.

Despite all of this, their quick movements can make getting good images difficult.

For more on hummingbirds in the garden, check out the following posts:

• How to help Hummingbirds during migration

• Five tips to attract hummingbirds

• Create a hummingbird hangout in your yard

• Where do hummingbirds go in winter

The following are a combination of photographs and digital paintings created from photographs that I have taken or created over the past few years in our garden.

This image of beautiful hummingbird working cuphea flowers shows how capturing the birds in soft light can result in a lovely image. The colourful flowers and soft background help to make the hummingbird standout in the image.

Trying to capture images of hummingbirds requires patience.

Setting the shutter speed fast enough to stop any movement is an important first step.

A good starting point is a shutter speed of at least 500th of a second, but that will not stop the movement of the wings. You will need a much faster shutter speed to stop the wing movement – something in the range of 1200 or higher. Unfortunately, increasing the shutter speed usually means your ISO needs to be up extremely high. This, of course, can lead to grainy or noisy images.

Digital image of hummingbird with D.H. Lawrence poem.

Using flash is an excellent way not only to help add some pop to the image, but also stop any motion. The flash also adds a highlight in the bird’s eye, which helps to give the bird some life.

A hummingbird is photographed from up close at a Cardinal Flower. Notice the iredescent feathers on the bird’s upper body.

This is one of the few images where I used a flash to capture the hummingbird. Using a flash helps add pop to the image by lighting the bird and flowers up nicely while creating a darker background. By balancing the flash with the background light, I was able to still keep colour in the background rather than having a completely black background.

Planting flowers – both annual and perennial – that hummingbirds are particularly attracted to provides excellent opportunities to capture these tiny birds.

Cuphea is an excellent annual plant to add to your garden. Use it in the landscape, in a container or even a hanging basket to attract hummingbirds.

Although the above image looks like it may have been photographed using a flash, it was actually taken later in the morning in direct sunlight when the plant was in full sunshine but the background was still in shade.

This was one of my first images of a hummingbird in flight.

A long telephoto lens was in most of these images including the above image where I used a 300mm F4.5 lens (420mm equivalent). This is an ideal lens to photograph these tiny birds from a respectable distance.

This image is interesting because it shows the translucent wings of the hummingbird in flight.

Although photographers strive to capture hummingbirds in their natural environments, including a feeder can result in some interesting images. In the hummingbird image below, I tried to capture both the feeder and the hummingbird swing in the same image.

Capturing both the feeder and the hummingbird perch in the same image tells a story about our backyard hummingbird haven where I have tried to create a corner in the yard specifically to attract and photograph these spunky little birds.

Capturing a hummingbird at a feeder may not be the best image, but it’s good way to begin capturing images of these tiny birds. Hummingbirds also don’t mind a close approach if they get to know and trust you, so these type of images are possible using a simple point and shoot camera with a longer lens.

Capturing hummingbirds with smaller point-and-shoot cameras, such as those made by Canon, Panasonic’s Lumix LX line of cameras, or their ZS line of high-end point and shoot cameras and Fuji can be challenging, but with a little extra effort and patience, it’s possible to get some nice environmental images such as the ones below. With a little patience and practise you can learn to get the most out of your compact camera.

This hummingbird posed on this perch for a period of time allowing me to capture it with a simple point-and-shoot camera.

Hummingbirds will often show aggressive territorial displays especially later in the season.

This image shows a male hummingbird at an annual salvia plant.

Hummingbird working the salvia. The 300mm f4.5 lens provides a beautifully soft background to the image.

Hummingbird shows off its tail feathers while on its perch.

Catching a hummingbird in an unusual pose adds a little more interest to the image.

This image shows how hummingbirds and orioles both often share nectar at feeders.

A hummingbird eyes a cardinal flower on approach.

Hummingbirds can’t resist salvia and will almost always spend time working the flowers when they visit the garden.

One of my favourite pastimes, especially in winter, is to take some of my favourite photographs and use them to create artistic impressions of the images. Below are just a few of my digital paintings which are created using a number of different computer programs as well as a tablet that allows you to paint with a pencil tool similar to a hand held paintbrush. Click on the link to learn more about turning photographs into digital works of art.

A digital painting of a Hummingbird created using a number of software programs as well as a drawing tablet. This is the same image as the one at the top of the post that included the Hummingbird poem by D.H. Lawrence.

In this digital painting, I combined a poem “The Hummingbird” by D.H. Lawrence with the digital image from an earlier photograph to create a memorable piece of art.

Another digital painting of a hummingbird from one of my original photographs.

Creating digital paintings from original photographs can be an extremely rewarding experience, especially over the winter months, when snow makes photographing birds more difficult.