A Blue-chested Hummingbird (Polyerata amabilis) hovers before a vibrant tropical blossom at the rainforest edge in Capurganá, Chocó, Colombia. The early morning light filters through a dense canopy, causing his emerald-green back and turquoise throat to shimmer against a softly blurred backdrop of dewy foliage. His slender forked tail and white underparts appear almost luminous as his wings beat rapidly, creating graceful arcs rather than a frozen pose. The overall mood conveys both kinetic energy and serene elegance, capturing a fleeting moment of wild beauty in a fragile ecosystem.
To achieve this composite of color and motion, I used a Canon EOS R5 paired with an 800mm f/11 lens and a 1.4× extender, resulting in an effective focal length of 1120mm. The dense canopy forced me to raise ISO to 3200, which allowed me to retain detail in shadowed areas without introducing excessive noise. Because the lens and extender combination fixed the aperture at f/16, I relied on the camera’s metered shutter speed of 1/60 second to blur the wingbeats artistically while keeping the bird’s body sharply defined. Working handheld under low light required controlled breathing and a steady stance to maintain focus at this extreme reach. The result is a portrait that balances technical precision with the raw vitality of the hummingbird’s flight.
©2023 Adam Rainoff Photographer
