As regular readers will know, Hummingbirds are one of my favourite birds to shoot, largely because they're a big challenge with a proportionally great reward. Their iridescence means that when watched with the human eye, you gain an overall impression of bright colours flashing in the sunlight, but all too often the photographs aren't as beautiful as those that your brain 'fills in' for you. Also the majority of hummers are small and fast flying, so pre-focussing and patience are a requisite.
But the rewards come with shots like this one of a copper-rumped hummingbird. I seldom use flash, but in this case it was just after a thunderous downpour and the sky was threateningly overcast. Added to that, the bird was drying its feathers on a twig right inside a thick bush, surrounded by other, bigger thick bushes. It was bushtastic. And very dark indeed; so out came the flash.
And boy, was I glad to have it. The flash has defined the textures on the bird with an almost illustrative quality, and the multiple colours revealed in the final shot were spectacular. I would never have been able to fully appreciate them with the naked eye.
The shot was taken at the Asa Wright Centre in Trinidad. It's a mecca for birders, and particularly good for Hummingbirds. Thoroughly recommended, especially for the chefs home made (and lethally spicy) pepper sauce, made from scotch bonnet peppers grown on the premises.
And if you ask really nicely, she'll give you some to take home in a jam jar.
Mmmmmmm......spicy jam jar of delight.
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