Hummingbird Motion
by Mike Lee
Title
Hummingbird Motion
Artist
Mike Lee
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
My lovely wife and I pretty much always put a hummingbird feeder out at a camp site when we set up. It's pretty amazing how fast the little critters sometimes find it; often the day we set up. This little female (rufous, I believe) found it the morning after I set up and hung around all 4 days I was at Gold Lake in Plumas County California.
I shot this frame while experimenting a bit with the electronic shutter on my newest camera which is a mirrorless body. Shooting fast moving subjects with the electronic shutter doesn't always work because of a phenomenon known as "rolling shutter." Basically, the camera is actually capturing multiple frames simultaneously. It does this by capturing one line at a time from top to bottom of the sensor very quickly, but not quite as quickly as the actual exposure time (in this case 1/800 of a second). Therefore, unlike the normal mechanical shutter that opens pretty much all at once, exposes all at once, and closes, movement happens as different parts of the frame are exposed. This is fine for stationary subjects but generally undesirable for fast moving subjects and can result in some really freaky distortion (I got a couple frames where the bird turned and it looked like a wing was detached from the body). However, in the case of a bird on the wing while straight at the camera it can result in some interesting motion blur like I think happened here.
Uploaded
September 4th, 2023
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Comments (51)
Larry Kniskern
Mike – I wanted to let you know that your stunning image was a top-fifty candidate from 75 initial considerations for selection as the June 2025 "Photo of the Month" in the Go Take a Hike Photography Group. Even though not advancing as a finalist, this image is most worthy of recognition as a superb photographic effort, so congratulations and well done! Please feel free to add this gem to the “Candidates for Photo of the Month” discussion thread in the group.
Gary F Richards
Extraordinary Hummingbird Motion composition, lighting, shading, color and artwork! Congratulations on your well deserved Feature! F/L
Larry Kniskern
Congratulations, Mike – your wide-open wings have been featured by the Go Take a Hike Photography Group! Feel free to add it to the 2025 Featured Images thread in the group discussion board for archive.
Barbie Corbett-Newmin
Congratulations, I have just selected your wonderful photography to feature on the home page of The 200 Club, a rising star photography group featuring the best photos with over 200 views up to 500 views. Featured images are changed often. To remain visible to potential buyers who visit this unique group, please post your featured images in the Feature Archives and other appropriate threads. Thanks for sharing it!
Luther Fine Art
Congratulations! Your terrific art has been featured on the ABC Group home page from the Y IS FOR THIS YEAR week SEPTEMBER 4, 2023 - SEPTEMBER 11. 2024. All images had to have been created this year (2023). You are invited to add your wonderful art in the Features Archive Discussion in the ABC GROUP!
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