Sol Blechman  

Hummers - How I Did IT by Sol Blechman

September 2023 - Hummers - How I Did IT

About the Image(s)

First, let me tell you some of the processing was in PS but because the image is from the IPhone I wanted to share it. The result is rather amazing, in my opinion. Here's the story.

Sitting on a friend's deck with no intention of taking pictures. No camera either. But there were several feeders under a beam and the entertainment was great. Using ProCamera I took a bunch of shots until I could get a setting that seemed to work. I could not see the birds I was shooting and just hoped for something to show up. Here's what I recall about the settings on the phone; ISO 2000, shutter speed 1500. I overexposed by about two stops because shooting into the bright sky left me with no detail, that I could see anyway, in the birds. It wasn't until I got home for a look in the computer that I found this one.

The image is cropped about 50% and pretty heavy noise reduction applied.

Hummingbirds are tough to shoot under the best of circumstances. That the phone could do this well is awesome. Imagine what could be coming!

This round’s discussion is now closed!
11 comments posted

Richard Sprott   Richard Sprott
Now you have done it! I tried using my phone to capture hummers on my deck some time ago and failed, and gave up. Now you have shown us a way to do it. My hummers have mostly left for the year so I'll have to wait till next summer to try again. What camera app did you use to set shutter speed and ISO?   Posted: 09/09/2023 09:43:40
Sol Blechman   Sol Blechman
ProCamera, Dick. It's in my rather too long comments.   Posted: 09/09/2023 11:10:54
Richard Sprott   Richard Sprott
I need to read more carefully!   Posted: 09/09/2023 22:11:34
Dave Edwards   Dave Edwards
You did a great job in getting photos of the hummingbirds. They are super fast. By going over many of your techniques for us is a big help. This photo with the placement of the background, the bird feeder, and the hummingbirds is a very unique photo. Nicely done. Thanks for helping us learn more about photography and hummingbirds. This would be a nice wall hanger Sol.   Posted: 09/09/2023 17:01:09
Sol Blechman   Sol Blechman
Thanks,Dave. Take enough pics and something good might turn up!   Posted: 09/10/2023 16:51:58
Robert Barley   Robert Barley
This was a difficult situation and especially so for a mobile device. Those creatures can get so focused on feeding that a photographer can sometimes arrive at a composition using lots of DoF to separate the birds from the background. But from your close and low vantage point that was difficult. Also, in my experience controlling depth of field with a mobile device isn't easy. Focusing on the feeder and snapping away will sometimes capture them - which I assume is what you did. I've attached a old DSLR shot to suggest what I mean. Shot at f/4, 1/320 sec., 105mm.
  Posted: 09/10/2023 17:06:15
Comment Image
Sol Blechman   Sol Blechman
Nice shot, indeed, Bob. Yes, life is easier with the DSLR. ProCamera does offer some controls but it surely isn't a regular camera YET!   Posted: 09/10/2023 17:37:33
Lynne Royce   Lynne Royce
Agree completely that capturing hummingbirds with your phone's camera amazing and something we couldn't envision couple of years ago. I don't even have time to pick up my camera phone when see hummingbird in my garden. Hear they are territorial and aggressive and wonder if you got pix of fight between these 2 birds as one seems to be diving at the other.   Posted: 09/16/2023 11:09:48
Pamela Hoaglund   Pamela Hoaglund
What great fun to experiment photographing these super fast birds with a phone camera. The ProCamera app seemed to do the job. Even more amazing, you couldn't see the birds and if you had they would have been gone by the time you pushed the shutter. Just fire away and see later if you captured something. I suspect one hummer is chasing the other one away while there is a third hummer on the feeder eating.   Posted: 09/16/2023 20:28:32
Jerry Hug   Jerry Hug
Sol, really beautiful results. This is also a good shot for Live Photo. If your camera settings are all on, you could focus on the feeder and just let the little birds fly around. Then in Live Photo (which is a 3 second video) and pick the best frame that you like. Burst mode would be another way to catch the action. Jerry   Posted: 09/26/2023 15:19:32
Sol Blechman   Sol Blechman
Jerry, you're correct about the Live Photo. In this case I was after the settings in ProCamera which allow real camera options. How could I obtain anything close to them in Live Photo?   Posted: 09/28/2023 10:45:59