Basic Tips On Photographing Hummingbirds

Today’s post does not offer a photograph of a specific species of hummingbird, but rather offers some basic tips to help you photograph hummingbirds more successfully.   If you are like me, any advice which will help improve our efforts in this area is greatly appreciated.  With continued effort and the right advice, maybe our skill at photographing hummingbirds will improve and each of us will be lucky enough to capture a wonderful shot of a hummingbird.  So, keep taking those photos and trying to improve along the way.

It is best that there be only one feeder out while you are trying to photograph the hummingbird.  Then there will be only the one feeder at which for the hummingbird to feed while you are trying to capture your shot.  Also, you know where to aim your camera, rather then having to guess at which feeder the bird will want to feed.   

The feeder should be hung at a level that is even with the camera.  To help accomplish this, the hummingbird feeder can be hung either on a string or between two trees.

If you are trying to successfully capture a shot of a hummingbird in flight, then the hummingbird feeder should have no perches on it, because this will not allow the hummingbird a place on which to land and rest.

You can determine how you want the hummingbird to pose.  You do this by plugging all the holes in the feeder except for the one from which you want the hummingbird to feed.  You then rotate the feeder as needed to give you a better angle from which to help you capture the shot that you desire.

It is my hope that these basic tips will help you when you try to photograph hummingbirds.  After all, hummingbirds are far too beautiful to only see for a brief moment, and what better way to capture that beauty as a lasting memory then through a beautiful photograph.