# Another ruby-throated hummingbird



## e-spice (May 21, 2012)

This is the male. Not the best picture of the red throat but the lighting wasn't that good.

e-spice


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## Clark (May 21, 2012)

The males are very entertaining when they dual.
I hide in the shed when photographing these. :ninja:

Nice shot!


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## KyushuCalanthe (May 21, 2012)

Great shot!


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## SlipperFan (May 21, 2012)

I agree! 

If the light isn't just right, the ruby-color looks black.


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## Yoyo_Jo (May 21, 2012)

:clap: Cool! I tried to take photos of hummingbirds last year - I know how hard it is. Yours is a trillion times better than any I got.


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## e-spice (May 21, 2012)

SlipperFan said:


> I agree!
> 
> If the light isn't just right, the ruby-color looks black.



I'll eventually get it right. It's been very hazy here for days.


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## Dido (May 22, 2012)

a great picture I would love to see them in nautre one day


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## rdlsreno (May 22, 2012)

Nice Shot!

Ramon


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## TyroneGenade (May 22, 2012)

I saw an Anna's Hummingbird in California in November. It was amazing how a little dull green bird can suddenly light up with a glowing magenta neck and then just as quickly the color would vanish. Amazing little birds. Sadly I was too slow with my camera... given how fast these move you got a pretty good shot of that one.


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## John M (May 23, 2012)

Awesome shot. Thanks for posting!




SlipperFan said:


> I agree!
> 
> If the light isn't just right, the ruby-color looks black.



That's because a hummingbird's colours aren't pigment based. They are totally dependent on the angle of the light. The colour we see is actually an illusion caused by the refraction of the light hitting the feathers. If the light hits the feathers at the wrong angle, the feathers just appear to be black.


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## SlipperFan (May 23, 2012)

John M said:


> Awesome shot. Thanks for posting!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That certainly is a better and more technical answer than mine!


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## abax (May 27, 2012)

Aha! Now I know where all our males are. We've only seen females at our feeder so far this year. Seems to me
that the females fight much more than the males. At our house, we hear them zipping past our ears before we ever actually see one. Quite startling sometimes.


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## W. Beetus (May 27, 2012)

Stunning picture!


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## biothanasis (May 27, 2012)

Fantastic!!!!! Thank you for sharing!


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## emydura (May 27, 2012)

Lovely. I'd love to see these hummingbirds one day.

Is this photo straight out of the camera or did you crop it? If it is the latter, a better crop would be to have the bird on the left rather than the right. From a compositional point of view, that tends to work better.


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## SlipperFan (May 27, 2012)

If you've ever tried to photograph a hummingbird in flight, you'll know he was lucky to get it in the frame! oke:

Actually, the bird's position in the frame is on the "minor focal point" (the major being in the upper left), and some say that is the most attention-grabbing spot.

I personally, like the photo as it is.


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## emydura (May 27, 2012)

SlipperFan said:


> If you've ever tried to photograph a hummingbird in flight, you'll know he was lucky to get it in the frame! oke:
> 
> Actually, the bird's position in the frame is on the "minor focal point" (the major being in the upper left), and some say that is the most attention-grabbing spot.
> 
> I personally, like the photo as it is.



Yes, Dot. I can't even imagine how difficult it would be to photograph a hummingbird. They are always on the go. So maybe what I'm saying is not relevant and not possible. I was assuming the photograph had been cropped to some degree but maybe it hadn't. 

I guess it is just personal taste. I prefer to see the bird flying into the photograph rather than out of it.


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