Swarms of Hummingbirds at the Bull River Guest Ranch
by John Gerlach
(Macks Inn, ID US)
Female Rufous Hummingbird
Female Rufous Hummingbird
Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Male Rufous Hummingbird
I enjoy photographing hummingbirds with ambient light, flash, and sometimes combining both light sources. It helps to have a lot of hummingbirds to work with, so every year I go to the Bull River Guest Ranch near Cranbrook, BC during late May to photograph the swarms of hummingbirds at the guest cabins. Sometimes 100-200 rufous, calliope, and black-chinned hummingbirds are in view simultaneously! This gives me lots of chances to play with my camera gear and figure things out. Sometimes I shoot several thousand images in a single day. The secret to good hummer images is to toss the bad images and show only the best.