Hours in the Garden

     For those who don't take pictures, but admire others for their hummingbird shots, you couldn't imagine the amount of time that goes into setting up, sitting motionless, and snapping thousands of shots, only to come out with a handful of beauties by the end of the season. It's incredibly time consuming, and the muscles in your hands, arms, and back can certainly tell you how difficult it is. Blurry eyes after hours of pic's and headaches from such intense focus and attention can give you incredible fatigue, but please don't feel sorry for us. There is nowhere we'd rather be, and nothing we'd rather be doing. Those sore muscles are nothing compared to the rewards we get when we capture the perfect shots. 
     After hours, days, and even weeks of capturing hummers in the garden, I ended up with about 50 shots that capture the color, position, background, crispness and detail better than the rest. This young male Ruby-throat allowed me about 50 decent shots, but this particular one really got my attention. 
Zinnias are a really good target flower for young hummingbirds. They are attracted to the large bright flowers, and are easy to feed from. I would consider these one my top 5 favorites for attracting young hummingbirds. 
​     N.E. of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Early August, 2018
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