Questions, questions, questions

Since I receive many questions about how I go about photographing birds and butterflies in my backyard, I thought I’d share some basic information along with a few recent images.

All of the bird and butterfly images in my galleries are shot in my backyard except for a few like eagles and shore birds. The first image below is an iphone photo of our small garden of zinnias and other flowers. The photo was taken in full sun at mid day. The contrast is harsh and the woods in the background often appear black when properly exposing for the subject in the foreground.
When shooting in this condition the difference in exposure between the foreground and background is about 3 f-stops. That renders the background almost black to black – depending on how I line up the subject. If I spot a highlight or bokeh, I will try to frame the bird or butterfly in the bokeh, otherwise the background is rendered black.
Depending on the light my setting range from: iso 1000-1600, f8-f10, 1/160-1600 sec, 0 to minus 3 f-stops exposure. Most shots are handheld, which is very difficult for me with a 150-600 lens. Some are with a tripod – which has its own challenges as the birds and butterflies move so quickly from flower to flower.

As seen in the image of the hummingbird below – taken at mid day – the sun is harsh and the background is almost black. Controlling the highlights can be very difficult in order to maintain some detail in the shadows.

In contrast, this image of a hummingbird was taken in the afternoon when the garden was in the shade. The light on the bird and zinnia is much more even and muted. The background is opened up due to less difference in exposure variation between foreground and background.

This final image was taken in full sun but the background was against other foliage in the garden – but at a distance. The highlights are somewhat manageable, but a slight overcast sky would have been ideal.