Michael Braunstein
July 2026 - White-necked Jacobin
About the Image(s)
This photo was taken in Costa Rica. It was taken hand held so that is the reason for the high ISO and high speed. Also flat was not used as I wanted a sequence of shots to choose. I used a canon EOS Mark11 with a Canon 500mm lens. at 420mm The Iao was 8000 and the Speed 1/4000th. F10. Processing was DXO for the noise and then Camera Raw.
7 comments posted
Michael
Great timing and capture of this hummingbird. Your settings are perfect for sharpness and the resultant bokeh. I like the open wing position of the Jacobin and I especially love the Beehive Ginger plant's position in the crop. Posted: 07/08/2026 15:18:57
Great timing and capture of this hummingbird. Your settings are perfect for sharpness and the resultant bokeh. I like the open wing position of the Jacobin and I especially love the Beehive Ginger plant's position in the crop. Posted: 07/08/2026 15:18:57
Well, I'd say all your work was worth it. Lovely catch of a fast moving hummer. I love those plastic-looking flowers of Central and South America. Your colors are fantastic and cropping perfect. Nice job. Posted: 07/08/2026 19:59:50
Michael, this image is a winner! You did an outstanding job freezing the action while keeping the critical areas tack sharp. The crop is perfect and really strengthens the composition.
I'm still amazed that at 1/4000 second you were able to stop the wing movement so effectively. I have a photographer friend who specializes in hummingbirds, and he uses multiple strobes for nearly all of his shots, which makes your result even more impressive.
The only small thing I found slightly distracting was the red flower (or object) behind the hummingbird's head. I hope you don't mind that I removed it to see how it looked. Other than that, it's a very strong composition. Excellent work, Michael! Posted: 07/08/2026 23:22:09
I'm still amazed that at 1/4000 second you were able to stop the wing movement so effectively. I have a photographer friend who specializes in hummingbirds, and he uses multiple strobes for nearly all of his shots, which makes your result even more impressive.
The only small thing I found slightly distracting was the red flower (or object) behind the hummingbird's head. I hope you don't mind that I removed it to see how it looked. Other than that, it's a very strong composition. Excellent work, Michael! Posted: 07/08/2026 23:22:09
It looks better without the red. When the humming birds were perched I used one flash. There are setups there to shoot with multiple flash but this was not done at one. I shot one flying at my house 3 days ago. it is also sharp at 1/4000th. The problem with shooting them flying with one flash is that the flash does not recycle fast enough for multiple shots. Posted: 07/09/2026 15:03:38
This is for everyone, not just Michael. One doesn't really need 1/4000. 1/2500 will do a fine job of stop-action without all the other high settings to compensate for the fast shutter speed. And yes, bursts are better. Using strobes and flash are hard on the birds, and are discouraged. Posted: 07/09/2026 16:07:26
Thanks. I still like 1/4000th for humming birds. Iso is no longer a factor up to 8,000 with DXO. Posted: 07/09/2026 17:10:13
A fantastic photo in every respect. Great job. Posted: 07/11/2026 06:08:58