I was told by our local guide, Dario, that the flowers in all my photographs taken at his family’s property, Zuro Loma in Ecuador, are native. That is nice attention to detail.

BAM☺︎

Another shot with the beak of the Hummingbird is hidden.

BAM☺︎

I tried to not focus too much on perched birds while in Ecuador because it’s just not as fun. However, when I did want to shoot a perched bird I tried to get a unique pose or some sort of action. I like this pose as it accentuates the Puffleg’s puff legs.

BAM☺︎

Another shot of a Buff Tailed Coronet. This pose is most likely from it try to scare off other Hummingbirds from landing on its perch.

BAM☺︎

I love capturing images that almost look like a painting.

BAM☺︎

This Velvet Purple Coronet was only about six feet away. I can zoom into its eyes and see the reflection perfectly.

BAM☺︎

I like this pose from the Tyrian Metaltail.

BAM☺︎

While photographing Hummingbirds one day, I noticed that these two reddish plants with yellow flowers were really close to each other. I thought that they were going to be too close to each other to make for good photographs. However, this photograph proves that I was wrong. They were, in fact, the perfect distance apart. Just for this one photograph, though, as they balance out the framing of this Green Thorntail quite nicely.

I don’t use Photoshop. Nor do I use “remove tools” within the program I do use to process my photos called Lightroom. I don’t alter my photos to remove, delete, or get rid of objects in my photographs. Therefore, thinking about how crowded a space is is very important for me to try and avoid unwanted items within my frame. It’s much easier to not worry about unwanted items and just remove them with software afterwards. I could do that. I have the capability and I’m very good at it. But, as I mentioned, I don’t edit my photos. I simply develop them and show you what I captured as it actually was. It’s a challenge I’m sticking with even though other photographers have tried to change my mind.

BAM☺︎

A lot of my time in Ecuador was spent around Hummingbirds which presented a fun challenge: trying to take excellent Hummingbird photographs. Unfortunately there are not that many Hummingbirds where I live, at least most of the year. I have a resident Anna’s Hummingbird in my backyard but being out in nature and photographing Hummingbirds like I got to do in Ecuador is a much different experience. The variety is vast and the surrounding flowers are much more exciting.

This was my first time photographing Hummingbirds with my newer professional camera gear so it was also a learning experience. I’ve only had my new tools for about five months at this point. I think I did quite well, though, and I look forward to shooting more Hummingbirds in the future.

BAM☺︎