Self Portrait with a Friend

ha ha! santa, hmmm! these projects of mine usually take a while, but thanks for agreeing. I will keep you updated. :)

Maria: If you want to try a sculpture I'd be honored. Feel free to use any of my images for reference in the project, if you like, including self portraits (I have a horrific number, maybe 5 or 6) or any of my hummingbirds. However, a different person for the model might be more commercially astute. Hummmmmm. How about a Santa with beard being plucked by hummer for nesting, while santa is vacationing in Arizona?

Have just read your description above of hummingbirds flying into your beard and saw it in a sculpture in my head.....would you agree to me doing this? Its such a visual description.

ha ha I had never looked at this close up so thought it was an insect not a hummingbird.

I have no trained squadron. He's just a wild bird, acclimated to my feeder. Hummers are very bold. I presume that because they are so fast, that they regard us as about as much threat as a deer, a cougar, or a buffalo. Which is to say, little or no threat at all. Hummingbirds sometimes fly around my beard and head hair and try to pluck hairs for nest building. (They normally use spider webs, mostly. I guess white hair is close enough.) House cats, which are not native, and natural predators of birds, will learn to sit under hummingbird feeders, leap up, and bat them out of the air. So hummers don't even have a natural fear of cats, which are after all a noxious invasive species. Please neuter your cats, and keep them indoors. They will live longer, and it's better for the environment. If you want a treat, cut the perches off of a hummingbird feeder, and put your finger where the perch would be. Stand still, and a hummer will probably land on your feeder, if they're feeding. Alternately, you can put a red bottle cap in your hand, with nectar in it. If they're used to finding nectar at a feeder, but the feeder isn't there, they are quite likely to sit on your hand and drink from the bottle cap. I merely sat in a chair very close to the bird feeder, in front of the camera and the feeder. Easy peasy photo. (My face is darker because I'm farther from the high speed flash which is illuminating the bird and stopping the action so its wings aren't very blurry.) These are some of the primary secrets of high resolution hummingbird photos: Cut off perches so you get flight shots without feeders. Frame the shot near the feeder, in the location where they hover between sips. Get very close. The camera and the flash don't startle the bird much. He'll be back, and acclimate to the camera just fine.

This is very cool Gregory. Is he part of your squadron of trained hummingbirds?

Very interesting and nice.