A split-second territorial clash at my feeder where two hummingbirds lock into a tight, acrobatic dispute. My practice uses long lenses, fast shutter speeds, and shallow depth of field to isolate fleeting motion.
That shallow depth of field is doing exactly what it needs to, the feeder geometry vanishes and what's left is pure motion suspended. I've chased similarly fast subjects (rain hitting pavement, birds through fog) and the discipline of waiting for that split-second frame is its own meditation.
So true! 😀 For me, its learning the behaviors that lead to these moments, watching and waiting for a signal.
That moment when they lock mid-air must have taken hundreds of shutter clicks to catch. I've tried to capture quick motion in watercolor sketches, birds at a market or hands reaching for fruit, and the second you think you've got it the moment shifts. Getting one frame out of that blur with everything sharp where it needs to be is its own kind of magic.
Thanks! 😀 Quite a few, I think with my lens and card write speed I get about 25fps.
This must’ve been unbelievably hard to capture. I hear that people often struggle to photograph airplanes flying, so I cannot imagine how hard it was to capture something so quick as a hummingbird fight. Incredible work.