Awwwww,what an awesome close-up of a gorgeous Hummer..
Greetings
Susanne(SUE)

What kind of camera do you have? I am asking for a camera this next Christmas and I want a goooooood one. I cannot decide on digital or film camera. That is a awesome pic. You can almost see him breathing.lol

Did you capture that shot thru glass? It is a wonderful picture and I too am curious about the camera you used. rthummer, I am no expert, just a long time amateur hobbist; but I would say that with today's technology I would go with the digital camera.

how on earth did you get that....?? do you have a miniature camera on the feeder.......?

Thank y'all for your compliments. My camera is
nothing fancy - Canon PowerShot A85. It is
worthless on the telephoto end of the scale, but
is great for close-ups. My cluster of feeders
is just outside a casement window (the kind you
open with a crank handle) for accessibility. They
are protected from the rain by the overhanging
soffit. For this picture, I held the base of the
feeder with my left hand and rested the camera on
top of my LH, so everything moved together. When
the camera is set on 'Auto' with the 'Macro' function
engaged, you can depress the shutter button down
half way, it will focus on the subject and set the
exposure. I just hold everything in that position
until something shows up. While I was waiting for
this little girl to land, 2 males decided to duke
it out about 2" above my hands. The downwash from
their little wings was precious. In case anyone is
interested, the little Canon is also great for
flower close-ups. Go about halfway down page 2 on
the Native Plant forum to the post 'More Wildflowers'.
Those blooms are about 1" wide.

thanks for sharing that! i just got a canon powershot SD800IS (7.1 MP) but haven't really taken the time to experiment with it yet. i wonder if it can get shots like this? (anyone else have one?)
so... how close were you, actually, to the feeder? and doesn't the shutter scare the bird away when you take the pic?

that detail is amazing.. you can see every li'l feather.... :)

rthummer: I agree with down2earth - go digital!

rembetika: I wasn't sure how close they were to
the camera, so I took some pics today and checked.
They're 1" to 3" away from the lens. And yes,
the shutter noise does scare some away, but they
come right back. I took 3 pics in a row of a
male today, and he never moved. My camera is only
a 4.0 MP, so I think you'll be surprised with the
detail that your 7.1 MP gives you. These are from
today...

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ctnchpr,
The third picture is probably my favorite. Reason? Look at the little guy comming in from below... that is so cute and he can't deny his kind can he? His ruby throat gives him away.LOL The far hummer also is showing the beauty of the ruby throat. What a great and wonderful picture!!! I really think you could enter the last two pics in a birding magazine. The detail is unreal with that camera. Am I being nosey if I ask you what was the price? Slap my hand if I am... All are just fantastic. Thanks for sharing... It is truly an amazing site and one not often seen with the naked eye.

Nice shots! I really like them all, but I think the one with the little guy coming up is really cute.

I am still waiting! Usually it is this week they arrive, I have my water on to make my food. Feeders will go out today.

Thanks rthummer and candyd, I'm so glad that you
liked the photos. rthummer, my camera was about
$250 in Dec '05. It has more bells & whistles
than I'll ever be able to use. I'm trying to
figure out how to focus it manually, the auto-
focus doesn't always read my mind. In the photo
below, I wanted the male in the foreground to be
in sharp focus, but the camera chose the other.

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