Hummingbird and Hibiscus
"Hummingbird and Hibiscus." I was beginning to worry that I would leave Vieques without a good photograph of one of the many hummingbirds that were flitting about in all the gardens down there. If you've ever tried hummingbird photography, you'll know it's extremely difficult, and requires a lot of patience and luck. There are absolutely no guarantees. To my delight, I was able to grab this shot on my last day there. I took this shot in the middle of a bright sunny morning, but was able to use an off-camera flash mounted on a wall (and weighted down with a coconut; I prefer to use native materials when possible) about two feet away from this flower to isolate the subject against a dark background. Flash ensures a fast capture speed while providing the right amount of light fall-off in the distance. I anticipated where the bird was going to be based on her patterns of flight that morning and on previous mornings, and focused my camera manually at that place ahead of time, and then waited, and waited, and waited. Want to know more about how to do this? Sign up for lessons with me! I know, wicked teaser.