A hummingbird has taken to bathing in my fountain early every morning. When I saw him this morning I thought he’d be gone by the time I got outside so I even took the time to attach my 300mm lens before stepping out. I was confident because I knew I had checked all my settings so when I went out I knew I could just focus and shoot. I saw him fly from the fountain to the photinea as I stepped out but as I peered into the branches I couldn’t find him. Then I looked down and he was again bathing in the fountain about two feet away from where I stood. What an opportunity…not! I had reset the ISO to 200 but in the shaded area where the fountain is, at that time of day I needed higher so I bumped it up to 500 just in time to see him fly into the branches again. Only this time he was in the light but I kept shooting as he preened. Of course they were all way overexposed, but oddly for me, in decent focus.
So I played with improving the photo: I fiddled with exposure, cropping, contrast, curves and luminance. This tweaking revealed blurred wings and tail as he shook off the water. I liked the results so I decided it’s my photo for today.
Focal Length 300mm
ISO 500
f/7.1
1/60