P3D hummingbirds in stereo

[SHIELDS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Hi!

After reading some posts on photo-3d about photographing hummingbirds
in stereo, I was sort of holding back until I could get together a lot
more equipment.

Thankfully I had a chance to encounter hummingbirds again this weekend, and
found I really didn't need so much after all!

I have friends with a cottage in a remote location. On and near the deck
are two feeders. Two years ago I tried my first shots (flat, right before
I started stereo). It was tough and out of maybe 10 shots I got only one good
one, of a female sitting on the wire next to one feeder. I was using an
85mm lens on an Olympus OM-10, from about 10 feet away. The female 
ruby-throat does not have a red throat, so I was somewhat disappointed,
and also because she was not in flight.

This time I almost didn't try, since my Pentax beamsplitter rig uses a 50mm 
lens. However, for the smaller beamsplitter format, this is pretty close to 
equivalent to the 85mm. I decided to give it a try from about 6 feet away.
I think the key is that the birds feel comfortable and safe with this
location, since they feed there all the time. There was one male that
kept coming back about every 10 minutes. At the beginning he would sit about
10 feet out on the wire and watch me for awhile before coming to feed,
but after about an hour he became bolder and would swoop right in. This
time, unlike last, the noise of the shutter did not cause him to leave
at once, although he would hover back an inch or so and watch for about
10 seconds before resuming feeding. If I moved to advance the film, however,
he was more likely to fly away. For this reason, and because he would
assume 5 or 6 tantalizing poses each time, I am investigating a power
winder or motor drive. Hopefully this will not make too much noise.
The OM-10 is a quiet camera for an SLR; perhaps the winder or motor
drive will not ruin the effect.

This was not super close, but I think it was close enough to get some
good shots. I managed 8 or so in all and think at least one will be
good. They shift hovering positions so quickly that it is hard to
squeeze the shutter release at the right instant (I was using a mini
tripod on a picnic table and a short cable release). Also, in order
to see the ruby color of the throat, the light must be at the right
angle--otherwise it looks gray.

Another thing that helped this time was to ignore one of the feeders.
I figured they would be more afraid to use the one on the deck rail
since it was farther from the trees. Also, you have to move too much,
and can miss shots out of not being ready, if you try to cover both.
So I concentrated on the one on the wire, which is only about 6 feet
from many tree branches--they would sit up there and watch me until
they got up the nerve to come down.

I'm proceeding with my plans to put front-surface mirrors in a Franka
beamsplitter, which will let me use an 85mm or 100mm lens, and either
frame the shot more tightly or move further back to scare them less--
probably a compromise between the two. If I try to frame too closely,
shooting from a tripod, they may just not ever fly into the correct
position. I think it's best to allow some leeway. Besides, unless the
sun is out (it mostly wasn't!), the depth of field will get too small.
I'm also going to get a power winder--I think that will be fast enough,
and also less expensive than a full motor drive, which might not work
on the OM-10 anyway, being designed for the OM-2. I once read an article
on this, but don't recall the exact details.

I did use Kodachrome 200 for these shots. Even 64 would have been much
too slow. I started out Friday evening in twilight and today the sun
was out for only about 10 minutes or so. Mostly I was around 1/125 second
at f/5.6 (aperture-preferred auto--didn't have to worry about shifting
clouds and changing light).

I'll post the results when I finish the roll and get the pictures back.

Mark Shields

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shields@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.netcom.com/~northws1/stmatt.htm
"Let the little children come to Me," Jesus said, "and don't keep
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  -Matthew 19:14



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