I got my first digital camera in 2006, and since then I have taken many pictures of the outdoors -- mostly opportunistic shots of things I encounter on my walks and hikes. These things include landscapes, flowers, birds, and other wildlife. I enjoy tweaking my pictures with the computer to enhance the detail and color while maintaining a natural look.

This is the first project where I have had a goal in mind. I realized that I had this wonderful resource close by -- the Hummingbird Gardens at the UCSC Arboretum. Hummingbirds are so delightful, but they are small and quick and often hard to see. I thought it would be wonderful to enlarge pictures of hummingbirds to put them on a more human scale so we can more easily appreciate them and their environment. My goal was to print selected pictures on a large scale -- 45" x 30" -- which I did, and I displayed them during several exhibits.

During the spring and summer of 2011, I visited the Arboretum once or twice a week, generally for one to two hours, and patiently watched and snapped pictures as the hummingbirds flew around me and hovered amongst the flowers. I am amazed at how many hummingbirds there are in this relatively small amount of space, especially considering they are territorial and are often chasing each other. I enjoyed spending time with them.

In some of the pictures, the birds pose like models, and we can appreciate the colors and composition of the image. In other pictures, the shot is more candid, and we sense the personality of the bird, and perhaps we imagine a story for the scene and what the bird may be thinking or feeling.

I hope this series brings you into the world of the hummingbirds at the Hummingbird Gardens.

Pictures were taken with Sony Alpha 55 and 65 Cameras using a Sony 70-400 G series lens. Detail and color were enhanced using Photoshop and Topaz Labs plugins.