2023—Suspended in Air

Hummingbirds can hold their heads perfectly still in mid air with just their wings and maybe their tail moving. But, if the shutter speed is fast enough, even the wings will freeze in a photograph. I prefer a blur to the wings, sometimes the more blur the better so there is the suggestion of movement but sometimes it is interesting to see the wing structure. The shutter speed in this image was fast enough to freeze most of the wing’s movement. There are a few slightly blurred feathers in the tail, body and wing but overall, this Broad-billed Hummingbird seems to be suspended perfectly still in mid air.