-- HUMMINGBIRD Q & A --
Photography #1

The questions below come in part from visitors who leave messages on the Operation RubyThroat website. Please send your own questions to QUESTIONS, or post them on the Guestbook page.

1. I keep trying to get pictures of hummingbirds at my feeder but they never come out. How were the photographs on the Operation RubyThroat Web site taken?

© Bill Hilton Jr.

 Photos of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (A. colubris), hummingbird flowers, and other specimens on the Operation RubyThroat website were taken primarily with 35mm single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras with close-up lenses of +1, +3, and +10 diopters. Although it's relatively easy to take pictures of hand-held birds captured for banding (left), photographing free-flying hummingbirds is a different matter. An SLR with a fast telephoto lens is almost a necessity, and a flash or strobe set-up is desired. Most click-and-shoot pocket cameras do not bring the subject close enough or are fast enough to get an unblurred image. Still, with patience, it is possible to place a feeder close to a window and get photos with inexpensive cameras; just make sure the camera lens is against the glass so the reflection of the flash doesn't wash out the photo.

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Operation RubyThroat is a registered trademark of Bill Hilton Jr. and Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History in York, South Carolina USA, phone (803) 684-5852. Contents of the overall project and this website--including photos--may NOT be duplicated, modified, or used in any way except with the express written permission of the author. To obtain permission or for further assistance on accessing this website, contact Webmaster.