Broadbill hummingbird with Pollen Cap
by Gregory Scott
Title
Broadbill hummingbird with Pollen Cap
Artist
Gregory Scott
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
This Broadbilled Hummingbird was photographed in Madera Canyon, using 2 Canon flashes. It's my all time favorite photo, particularly because of the yellow pollen on his head, which is nice in terms of color-composition, and nicer because hit helps tell the story of his ecological niche as a pollinator and insectivore.
Uploaded
October 6th, 2011
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Viewed 3,386 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/27/2024 at 3:38 PM
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Comments (35)
Wibada Photo
Gregory, this is fantastic (as all of your works are)!! Details are amazing, right down to the nectar on the tip of the bird's bill. F&V
Beto Machado
Hi Gregory. I have a garden in my house and all time I watch these birds. They are so important for the ecosystem. But I liked your capture because this, I tried to do the same and I saw that's is so difficult to take a good shoot. So, fantastic capture, amazing shoot! FFFFFVVVVV!!!
Maria Disley
I can just picture the scene! Sounds magic. I can see the story of the Hummingbird Man in the shape of a kids book! Or an adults! Have you ever given that any thought?
Gregory Scott
In fact, on a good day, I shoot maybe 500 hummingbird exposures or so, deleting perhaps 30% as completely worthless, and perhaps 20 have good technical characteristics like focus on the eye (or close enough), adequate DOF, bird in a good pose, and not too badly out of frame. That probably well exceeds 60 an hour in peak hours. My favorite species is this one, the broadbill, though of course, they are all wonderful. But broadbills are iridescent from any angle, and in any lighting. They lack a distinct gorget (throat "shield") that other hummingbirds have, but their overall coloring is the most varied of any US hummingbird.
Gregory Scott
I've been spending between a week and 3 months in the southwest each year except one since 2003. An average of maybe 4 weeks per year has been devoted just to photographing hummingbirds. On the other hand, this was taken in the 1st year, on the third or fourth day of hummingbird photography, and is what I consider my all time best hummingbird photo. So it's not ALL about the luck of the pose. Arizona below interstate 10 is a treasure trove of a wide variety of hummingbird species. ALL of the species I have photographed except ruby throats, have been seen there, and most of my photos are from there. It's very slow if you get a visit an hour, and it's not unusual to have 60+ visits an hour in the early morning and late evening, when the birds tank up.
Maria Disley
I am just speechless! I s it the one bird and you photoshop her, or do you see these birds on a daily basis, there are so many and so varied ! I am just amazed atr the photography!