I fulfilled the commitment I made last year to take and post a photo a day to my blog, and now, daily photography has become my obsession, so I am starting again. This is Day 1 of a new 365 project for me. As of now, I don’t have specific goals for my photography this year other than to continue my efforts to improve my skills. And, of course “focus” remains my primary aspiration, and birds, my favorite subject. So, it is fitting, I suppose, that my first post of 2012 is a hummingbird in, what I think is, pretty good focus. I did something different this morning when I took this photo. Inspired by my fellow photo-blogger, Melinda, who just added a speedlight to her collection of photography equipment, I experimented using my on-camera flash with the power decreased to -3.0 to allow me to use a faster shutter speed and to to brighten my subject on the deeply shaded patio. Not only did the low-powered flash help with exposure, it brought out the iridescence of the feathers without overwhelming the photo. I think my experiment was successful.
Focal Length 300mm
ISO 100
f/5.6
1/100
Flash Power -3.0
Cropped
Beautiful! Wonderful color and focus! Great idea with the flash, which also freezes motion! Perfect that you chose a hummingbird to begin the year! I see lots of beautiful bird photos in your future!