Shooting Great Images of Bonaire’s Flora and Fauna, Bonaire Photographers Share Their Tips--Part Two
Continuing in our series of showcasing some of Bonaire’s resident photographers, Marlies Seelos shares her hummingbird images with us, as well as her tips on how to capture these elusive birds with a camera. Her images can be viewed in the Bonaire Insider Photo Gallery by clicking here.
Marlies observed that hummingbirds would visit a certain plant in her garden each day at the same time. In order to let the birds get accustomed to her, she spent some time with them each day. When she was ready to start shooting, she placed a ladder so she could be at the same height as the birds. It took about fifteen minutes for the birds to get used to her on the ladder, but after that, they resumed their normal feeding and simply ignored her.
Marlies set her camera so that it would shoot multiple images with one depression of the shutter release. This is especially important because of the fast movement of the birds and their beating wings.
As she did with her iguanas (see previous Bonaire Insider story by clicking here), she attempted to use an upward angle as much as possible, to keep the hummingbird against a simple blue sky background. (Source: Bonaire Insider reporter; images by Marlies Seelos, Marlies Sail & Canvas)
Truly wonderful, full of life and colors, Marlis has an eye for capturing movement with precision, an artist yet to be topped.
Posted by on December 12, 2007 at 10:28am AST
