Synapped by Renae Smith
The First Sip Is Joy
There's a quote about the Oriental passion for tea: the first sip is joy, the second is gladness, the third is serenity, the fourth is madness, the fifth is ecstasy.
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I see photos like this posted online all the time, and I had no idea what is involved in the shot. Let me share with you what it took for me to finally get a hummingbird shot I LOVE.
First, since I don't like to garden I studied what flowers the hummers like and then found some of those flowers. Then because the little buggers fly so fast and are so territorial they chase each other all around the place, so 90% of the times you see them you couldn't possibly get a shot. I went to this botanical garden 4 times and sat there for 3 hours each time before getting this shot.
Then when the bird finally comes to your flower of choice they flit around very fast, of course, so it's nearly impossible to get focused on them. When you actually get lucky enough to get focused, one out of every burst of 10 shots might be actually sharp. Then to find one where the bird is in a good position and/or not behind a stem or leaf cuts those shots down dramatically, and to find one in the group that's a good composition where the flowers are still pretty culls them out even more.
I took 193 hummer shots in 6 hours at the garden in the last 2 days. I deleted 95 right off. Of those, 29 were actually decent shots. Of those, I considered 7 to be good. Of those, there were 3 I would actually frame and put on my wall!
If you've taken the time to read this far you can see it's really MY sip of success that is full of joy today!!
The First Sip Is Joy
There's a quote about the Oriental passion for tea: the first sip is joy, the second is gladness, the third is serenity, the fourth is madness, the fifth is ecstasy.
------------------------------
I see photos like this posted online all the time, and I had no idea what is involved in the shot. Let me share with you what it took for me to finally get a hummingbird shot I LOVE.
First, since I don't like to garden I studied what flowers the hummers like and then found some of those flowers. Then because the little buggers fly so fast and are so territorial they chase each other all around the place, so 90% of the times you see them you couldn't possibly get a shot. I went to this botanical garden 4 times and sat there for 3 hours each time before getting this shot.
Then when the bird finally comes to your flower of choice they flit around very fast, of course, so it's nearly impossible to get focused on them. When you actually get lucky enough to get focused, one out of every burst of 10 shots might be actually sharp. Then to find one where the bird is in a good position and/or not behind a stem or leaf cuts those shots down dramatically, and to find one in the group that's a good composition where the flowers are still pretty culls them out even more.
I took 193 hummer shots in 6 hours at the garden in the last 2 days. I deleted 95 right off. Of those, 29 were actually decent shots. Of those, I considered 7 to be good. Of those, there were 3 I would actually frame and put on my wall!
If you've taken the time to read this far you can see it's really MY sip of success that is full of joy today!!