Patagonia Creek Preserve: Broad Billed Hummingbird

Continuing at Patagonia Creek Preserve. As a wildlife photographer sometimes you don't know how good a photograph is until you see on the screen -- or, photo paper. It is easier with digital. You can take multiple shots. My Canon 5D Mark II will shoot 7 frames per second. My film camera (Canon EOS 1V HD) could shoot 10 frames per second, however, if you have 36 exposure film that's less than four seconds of shooting. So, needless to say I never shot that fast. But what a fast camera will do is provide you with instantaneous response. When photographing birds in flight for example, you might think you have a great photo, only to find out that a wing was covering his head or eye at the exact moment the shutter released. With a fast camera you can take three or four shots and one of them is likely to be good. But, again, how good you don't know quite yet. This photo of a Broad Billed Hummingbird in flight is one of my favorites.