After yesterday’s post the semi-perfectionist in me reared it’s pretty normal looking head and I took the concept of shooting it like film a step further. I culled the best of the images of my hummers from the original black and whites and took the original files and “processed” them like I would have if I had been exposing negatives in the dark room. I didn’t dodge and burn – but I played with exposure so that the images were as contrasty enough to really bring out the detail I knew was there in my “negatives”. No sharpening, no digital fixes, no sepia or pinhole. Just straight B&W with an exposure adjustment. I think this is a pretty fair comparison – 6 good shots out of 30+.

Some random facts about Hummingbirds:

They lay 2 white eggs the size of peas.

Their migration is timed according to the appearance of certain flowers along their route.

A group of hummers is called a bouquet, a shimmer, a hover, a tune or a glittering – all of these seem pretty appropriate.

They flap their wings up to 75 beats per second.

They build their nests from spider silk covered with lichens.

A hummer consumes twice its body weight each day.

I love how this female appears to be whispering to the feeder.

I seem to get the most in-focus shots of this content female.

One of my males coming in for a landing.

Fluttering female from my neighbor’s “shimmer”.

The chubby female feeding. She is the calmest of my “Bouquet”

These guys dive bombed us as we refilled the feeder.

Thanks for giving these guys a second look with me.