How To Photograph Hummingbirds

I’m Kunito Imai, a nature photographer in Tokyo. I visited Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica to photograph hummingbirds. Here are some tips to capture them in-flight.

1. Shutter speed must be 1/1000 or higher to stabilize the bird on your image. 1/1600 or higher is ideal.

2. I recommend a 100-400mm zoom lens. 300mm would also work well. You can cope with an even wider range of situations with a teleconverter.

3. Hummingbirds are quite territorial and tend to return to the same spot again and again. So if you find a bird you’re looking for, wait there for it to come back.

4. Don’t use external lights. They ruin the birds’ natural colors.

More info: ikunito

I’m Kunito Imai, a nature photographer in Tokyo and here are some tips to capture them in-flight

1. Shutter speed must be 1/1000 or higher to stabilize the bird on your image. 1/1600 or higher is ideal

I recommend a 100-400mm zoom lens. 300mm would also work well. You can cope with an even wider range of situations with a teleconverter

Hummingbirds are quite territorial and tend to return to the same spot again and again. So if you find a bird you’re looking for, wait there for it to come back

Don’t use external lights. They ruin the birds’ natural colors