Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- f/6.3
- 1/1000 sec
- ISO2500
Female ruby-throated hummingbird at Patuxent Research Refuge - North Tract (Merganser pond observation tower). I had read several days prior that the hummingbirds were back at the Refuge and since it's only about 15 minutes away, I headed over there for over 2 hours. I had many shots between the feeders at the contact station and the flowers growing around the observation tower. I would usually crop a shot like this but feel that keeping the environment adds to the beauty of this shot.
To get the wings in focus, you need to shoot at a very high shutter speed if you do not have an external flash on your camera. It was a very cloudy day so I had to shoot with a much higher ISO than I normally would as my upper limit (in order to shoot at a very high shutter speed). Most of my shots were in the 1/3200th to 1/4000th category so I am surprised this came out as well as it did for 1/1000th second. I would have preferred a higher shutter.
Lens - Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD @ 400mm on Nikon D5500