Hank's Hummingbird Animation # 3
The following animation is from a sequence of six photos taken at approximately five frames per second. It shows a
male Anna's hummingbird approach and sip from a feeder that was located in my backyard in San Gabriel, California during the Spring.
Scroll down the page to see the animated GIF
Scroll down the page to see the animated GIF
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The wings cycle an average eighty times per second. The mechanical shutter of my OM1n camera was set at 1/60th second. The flash duration was on the order of 1/40,000th of a second. The mirror was locked up and the film was advanced with a Olympus MotorDrive2 unit. I think the top speed is around four or five frames per second.
The animation was made from scans of six sequential photographic prints with a software package called Paint Shop Pro 7 by Jasc, inc. The Animated GIF format makes it possible to present this stroboscopic "flip-book" over the internet.
It looks to me like the wings are rotating slowly backwards like the effect one sees when timing a rotating wheel with a stroboscope.
Any thoughts you care to share on hummingbirds ? Guestbook