Back out this morning with my little hummingbird friends. They liked the little flowers on this Salvia plant. There are many, many varieties of salvia. This one grows naturally here in the desert southwest.
I always like getting a shot when they aren’t buried in the flower feeding. I’ve seen the little tuft of feathers out like this one many times, but can’t really find a good explanation of what is is used for in their flight. I’d love to know.
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Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Olympus EM1-X
40-150 f/2.8 Pro
2x converter
4 - flashes
I have seen that little ruff of feathers, too, but in my experience it was from air moving the feathers - either a breeze or the currents of air created by the wings as they move around and through them. It’s just a guess though.
Love the colors here - the deep pink and the greeny-browns are a nice match. Super detail as always. Beautifully executed flash technique.
Another excellent hummingbird image, Keith. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a tuft in that location on hummingbirds, but it’s not unusual to see some displaced feathers on other species. It would be interesting to have a rapid series of shots of her to see if she’s actually deploying it or if it is just a tuft that she hasn’t groomed out yet.
