Saturday, February 18, 2012

Filming Hummingbirds



I love this video! Those cameras! I want to see the whole TV show now. I have a book about hummingbirds with lots of still pictures of them fighting. I did already know that they are quite mean to each other. The high speed, high definition photography does show lots of interesting details though. I like seeing the feathers on their back lifted by the vortex coming off their wings particularly.

The presenter didn't mention the hardest part of filming wildlife -- the waiting. I am constantly amazed that an animal's ability to do nothing interesting for extended periods of time far exceeds my ability to sit and wait for it to perform. They take thousands of hours of work and edit it down to an hour of the best parts. What WOULDN'T be interesting if you presented it that way? Films like these make people interested in animals like TMZ makes people interested in celebrities.

From twitter link by @GrrlScientist

2 comments:

  1. I still want to be a wildlife photographer or filmmaker when I grow up.

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  2. I'd love to make a film for PBS Nature. I'll need an advance so I can get a prescription for Adderall though, so I can manage the waiting.

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