The Cultivating Garden #14: Watch Out World, Mama’s Got A Brand New Tripod!

I've been trying to photograph my hummingbirds for several weeks. I spend a lot of time outside just sitting with my camera in my hand. Some days, for about 5 minutes at a time I will find the patience to sit there motionless with the camera aimed at the feeder waiting to snap the photo. But alas, no sooner do I put my camera down to crack my knuckles a Hummingbird zooms right by; I fumble; snap a blurry picture; and it’s over. There’s no way my neighbors don’t think I’m a lunatic.

(Here is the first good picture I took using my tripod. This is also the first time I’ve noticed the females have returned, which is a noteworthy development. Until now, for the past 3 weeks only males had been visiting my feeders.)

Long story short, next time we were at Target we found a cheap tripod for $15. As I’ve never been serious about taking pictures, this is my first tripod, so I’m OK with it being of questionable quality.

Hummingbirds, as one would expect, are particularly difficult to photograph when they're feeding because of their wings which beat at a rapid pace. And unless you have the most steady of hands, and a whole lot of patience and time, it will be hard to get any good pictures of these guys. The picture below, for instance, is the best I could do free-hand.

Compare this with the picture up top and the quality of the focus is significant. Moreover, I did not have to strain myself or wait hours to get the good picture. I just made sure the framing was right for the feeder, set everything up, and waited with my camera on with a light finger on the button.

Here’s to a new toy!