Hummers anyone?

[Gerlinde]

I got lucky yesterday!
I believe this is a Rufous Hummingbird.

Rufous-Hummer.jpg

[sidd finch]

Great shot.

Sidd

[Chuck Engels]

Wow, awesome Gerlinde !! I love hummingbirds

[momoffduty]

Wow Gerlinde! Great shot! Watch out Sidd, Gerlinde just upped the game in the hummingbird wars.

[Gerlinde]

Watch out Sidd, Gerlinde just upped the game in the hummingbird wars.

And i got Gopro video too!

[sidd finch]

Yikes... I do not think I can compete. The color of that Hummingbird is spectacular to say the least. Gerlinde I look forward to your opus.

Sidd

[Gerlinde]

I have a lot to learn. I filmed with the 1080p - 30 fps, medium setting. I had to zoom in to get a better focus on the hummingbird. I also slowed the video down to 50% speed and gave the colors a little boost. I guess all the manipulations degraded the video quality somewhat. Besides the fact that my filming and editing skills are really rusty at the moment, I'm not really clear on how to film with the GoPro camera. Lots to learn...
Thanks for all the nice comments on the pictures. At least I have not completely lost my photo skills.

Here is a little sample of my GoPro footage.

[Peru]

Beautiful.

[momoffduty]

Love the hummer Gerlinde. What kind of plant? Looks like some type of fruit or is that a large flower?

It is a toss up on the file format for me. If I want quality I shoot in 1080p narrow and then use that in a 720p timeline. Helps to zoom into the subject. Yet, sometimes I like the 720p 120fps to slow the motion. I usually boost the colors too in post. I've gotten home to only find that I shot in 30fps when I wanted to slow it down later. Too many decisions.

[Gerlinde]

Thanks, Bob!

Cheryl, the plant is a Fuchsia. The flowers are red and purple and about half the size of a Hummingbird.

If I want quality I shoot in 1080p narrow and then use that in a 720p timeline.

That's what I did. I'm not clear if I have to uncheck scale to frame size? Does this even work in PRE or is this only possible in Premiere? After unchecking the scale to frame size the video stayed the same.

[Ron Hunter]

That was great! Were you using a tripod and if so, how did you not scare the bird?

[sidd finch]

Gerlinde that was really well done.

I found that using the GoPro app (free) to convert the mpeg4 footage to AVI helps in the color correction as well as editing.

SIdd

[momoffduty]

That's what I did. I'm not clear if I have to uncheck scale to frame size? Does this even work in PRE or is this only possible in Premiere? After unchecking the scale to frame size the video stayed the same.

Uncheck the scale to frame Before import. When you place the 1080p in the 720p timeline the footage will be much larger. This file is now zoomed without loss of quality. If I need to zoom any video, I try not to go scale up more than 10 or 15%.

[Dave McElderry]

Just catching up this morning. Really enjoyed your video. The hummingbirds must be a great source of enjoyment, and will be a fine subject for testing equipment and learning.

[Gerlinde]

I'm glad you all enjoyed my little clip.

That was great! Were you using a tripod and if so, how did you not scare the bird?

Yes I used a tripod. I have a little knockoff Gorilla tripod and I positioned it close to the planter pot. Those little critters are not that shy. They even attack me sometimes when I have the guts to be outside.

I found that using the GoPro app (free) to convert the mpeg4 footage to AVI helps in the color correction as well as editing.

Yes, I use the GoPro app too. Why do you convert to AVI?

Uncheck the scale to frame Before import.

Ahhh! Thanks for that tip, Cheryl. I had to put a 720p clip on the timeline before bringing in the 1080p clip for this to work. Even if I set up the project for 720p, scale to frame size unchecked, the 1080p clip will fill out the frame otherwise.
I'm also not clear how the frame rate setting affects the clip. My 720p clip was 60 fps, but the 1080p clip is only 30 fps. Playing back the clip seems to give it an automatic slow motion effect. I'm not sure if that will be retained when I export the clip after editing?

The hummingbirds must be a great source of enjoyment,

Yes, they certainly are! We have quite a collection of wildlife in our backyard. We feed also all the other birds around. We have 2 Scrub-Jays that will come to our door and demand their Peanuts.