Sparkling violetears are probably the most commonly seen hummingbirds in Quito. At the aptly named Colibri cafe, these gorgeous little birds patrolled the foliage overhead — a delight, but nearly impossible to photograph against the bright sky. I never managed to get the fill flash on the GH1 to work properly, and the autofocus on Panasonic's lenses is shockingly slow and inaccurate. I longed for the 20D and the 300mm f4 L, but if I'd had that with me I'd probably have been too apprehensive to use it. This, with a lot of post-processing, was about as good as I could do. I'm reasonably happy with it, given the bird wasn't much bigger than my thumb.
[15 August 2011, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 300 mm, ISO 400, 1/400 at f5.6]
All content © 2012 Pete McGregor
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10 comments:
Wonderful, the photograph, the bird and its name.
Thank you, RR. Some of the names of the hummingbirds are almost as spectacular as the birds: the glittering-bellied emerald, the amethyst-throated sunangel, the red-tailed comet, the marvellous spatuletail, and so on. One even goes by the name of the bearded mountaineer ;^)
Such a joy. Thanks.
Elephant's Child, you're welcome :^)
Oh, how beautiful! Made me smile. Excellent photo. Maureen
Thanks Maureen — I trust the sight of a hummingbird brought back good memories :^)
I do love hummingbirds. Once, whilst in LA, we stopped or photographs of something else and one came whizzing past my head so close it almost took my ear off!
I love how tiny they are, and how fast, and how beautiful they are (if ever they stop so they can be admired).
What a fantastic image you have Pete. And a great memory too.
Thanks Leonie :^) When I went to South America I tried to keep my expectations low, but I knew I'd see hummingbirds for the first time. They didn't disappoint me, and this little one will always be a great memory.
Perky feller.
Zhoen — yep, they certainly have attitude.
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