Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2020/05/14

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Subject: [Leica] IMG: Calliope Hummingbird again
From: j2m46 at hotmail.fr (Jean-Michel Mertz)
Date: Thu, 14 May 2020 13:39:55 +0000
References: <271608972.12427.1589428577285@wamui-fatboy.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

Extraordinary. Your account of your five-year efforts to get a decent 
picture of this wonderful bird reads like a detective story. Thank you! JM


Jean-Michel Mertz
68750 - Bergheim

________________________________
De : LUG <lug-bounces+j2m46=hotmail.fr at leica-users.org> de la part de 
Douglas Herr via LUG <lug at leica-users.org>
Envoy? : jeudi 14 mai 2020 05:56
? : lug at leica-users.org <lug at leica-users.org>
Cc : Douglas Herr <telyt at earthlink.net>
Objet : [Leica] IMG: Calliope Hummingbird again

Over five years of trial-and-error went into making this photograph.

In the fall of 2015 I learned of this particular spot in the Sierra Nevada 
where this species can be reliably found for a few weeks of the year.  
Calliope Hummingbirds are elusive at best, they winter south of the USA 
border and spend their summers in the western mountains of North America, 
visiting the lowlands only briefly during migration.  At my home in eastern 
Sacramento County California I've seen this species only once; he hovered in 
front of my face for at most 15 seconds then was gone.

This particular mountain meadow is graced with these feisty jewels for a few 
weeks beginning in early May, so in 2016 I visited on 04 May, found the 
birds and made a few photos.  I was delighted but I wanted more: more pixels 
for larger prints, more feather detail.  This is the smallest of the North 
American birds, long lenses have long minimum focussing distances and to 
make a presentable image a lot of cropping was required.

I also wanted to photograph this bird in overcast light.  Direct sunlight 
reflecting off the bird's gorget is clipped by the limited dynamic range of 
nearly every image capture medium and is best tamed with diffused overcast 
light.  Also, the bird's favorite perch is shaded by a nearby mountain early 
in the day when the bird is active, while the background is in full 
sunlight.  I wanted a dark forest background, not an overexposed forest 
background so early on a sunny day didn't give me the foreground/background 
lighting ratio I wanted.  It has to be overcast light, a rarity in 
California's spring.

Overcast light also means slower shutter speeds or higher ISO or shallower 
DOF, or all three.  I wanted to use as low an ISO as possible, an aperture 
that would yield a modicum of DOF and no subject or camera motion for 
feather detail.  Did I mention that overcast light in these mountains 
usually comes with wind and rain?

Over the next few years incremental improvements in equipment and technique 
resulted in incrementally (to my eyes) improvements in the pictures:

A high-MP camera resulted in more pixels-per-bird, but the minimum focus 
distance was limited by the old manual-focus 500mm lens, and extension tubes 
with long lenses provide only limited benefit.

This mountain meadow is about an hour & a half's drive from home and my 
schedule is constrained by family obligations so only day trips have been 
practical vs. camping out near the meadow for several days.

Last year my first visit was on a bright sunny day, so no overcast light.  
My second visit last year coincided with a late-season snowstorm that 
dropped a foot of snow in the mountains, delivering a final crushing blow to 
the scraggly skeleton of a willow that had been the hummingbird's favorite 
perch.

This year a financial windfall made it possible to replace the old 500mm 
lens (a great lens in its time) with a modern 600mm lens with a good 
close-focus limit and many handy features.  My first visit was in sunlight, 
which I tried to make the best of.  Cool photos, but not what I was looking 
for.

bright background:
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/trochilidae/selasphorus/calliope/selcal19.html

far away, not enough pixels (and I'm lucky I didn't slide down the mountain):
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/trochilidae/selasphorus/calliope/selcal20.html

bright sunlight, few photos worked past 10 AM because of harsh shadows and 
clipped gorget highlights:
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/trochilidae/selasphorus/calliope/selcal21.html

I visited again yesterday with a weather forecast of mostly clouds but as 
I've mentioned overcast in these mountains often means wind and rain.  The 
hummingbird was totally OK with the weather but I didn't feel comfortable 
using my equipment in the deluge.

Today's forecast was overcast again and with no rain until late in the day.
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/trochilidae/selasphorus/calliope/selcal22.html

I'm happy with this one.  I would have liked a few light drizzle-drops but 
that might be asking for too much.  Maybe next year.

Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com

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In reply to: Message from telyt at earthlink.net (Douglas Herr) ([Leica] IMG: Calliope Hummingbird again)