Roxanne Stone Photography

Roxanne Stone Photography Wildlife & Nature Photographer Birds, Astrophotography, Landscapes

1/4000 of a second. And I still couldn’t freeze his wings in flight.I photographed this tiny male Calliope Hummingbird w...
09/06/2026

1/4000 of a second. And I still couldn’t freeze his wings in flight.

I photographed this tiny male Calliope Hummingbird with my Canon R5 and RF600mm at 1/4000, and even at that shutter speed, those wings refused to freeze.

Which feels appropriate for a bird like this.

The Calliope is the smallest bird in the United States, weighing only about 2.3–3.4 grams — roughly the weight of a penny. And somehow, packed into that impossibly tiny body is one of the smallest long-distance migrants in the world. Calliopes can travel around 5,000 miles each year, generally heading north along the Pacific Coast in spring and returning south through the Rocky Mountains in fall to their wintering grounds in Mexico.

Tiny, but mighty seems almost inadequate.

I’ve mentioned this particular little guy before because he is an absolute challenge to photograph. Compared with the Broad-tailed Hummingbirds I regularly photograph, his movements feel much less predictable. He darts in, changes direction, disappears and reappears somewhere else before I’ve managed to get the 600mm glass on him. And when he does hover, he’s looking at me and giving me the stink eye. He’s fearless.

But when I do get him in frame (and in focus🥴)…

That brilliant green crown - topped with pollen. Those extraordinary magenta gorget feathers. Such a beautiful bird.

Difficult to capture. An absolute joy to photograph. ❤️

Canon USA EOS R5 | RF600mm F4 L IS USM | 600mm | f/4 | 1/4000 sec | ISO 6400

Overcast days don’t always feel like ideal photography weather, but sometimes that soft, even light gives you exactly wh...
09/05/2026

Overcast days don’t always feel like ideal photography weather, but sometimes that soft, even light gives you exactly what you need.

I photographed this female Broad-tailed Hummingbird at the Denver Botanic Gardens on a beautifully overcast morning. Without harsh sunlight competing for attention, the colors seemed to come alive. The subtle greens and warm cinnamon tones in her feathers, surrounded by a wash of brilliant red salvia.

And then she gave me the wings. Both of them. 😂

For hummingbirds in flight, I’ll happily trade some ISO for shutter speed. At 1/5000 sec, I was able to freeze those individual wing feathers while she hovered among the flowers.

Canon USA EOS R5
RF100–500mm F4.5–7.1 L IS USM at 500mm
1/5000 sec | f/7.1 | ISO 6400 |

Apparently, even hummingbird wars have a ceasefire.Early one morning at Desert Botanical Garden in Scottsdale, the sprin...
09/04/2026

Apparently, even hummingbird wars have a ceasefire.

Early one morning at Desert Botanical Garden in Scottsdale, the sprinklers came on and suddenly all the usual rules of hummingbird territory seemed to disappear.

These tiny birds that spend most of the day chasing one another away from their flowers were gathering around the water like an African watering hole. Nobody was fighting. Nobody was getting run off. For a few minutes, everybody was apparently allowed to come in, cool off and enjoy the sprinkler.

I caught this little one right in the middle of a bath, absolutely living its best life.

What looks like rain in the photograph is actually sprinkler water suspended in the early-morning light.

Desert Botanical Garden opens early in the summer - 6am, to be exact. I was alone for the first 20 minutes (with the exception of its wonderful staff) and it was truly magical.

Canon EOS R5 + RF100–500mm F4.5–7.1 L IS USM
363mm | 1/2000 sec | f/6.3 | ISO 6400 |

If you build it, they will come. 💚I put this little hummingbird swing just off my patio hoping someone might actually us...
09/03/2026

If you build it, they will come. 💚

I put this little hummingbird swing just off my patio hoping someone might actually use it. I put it in between two feeders as well to promote visibility. And…she didn’t just use it. She apparently decided it was hers.

She sits here in the mornings while I’m outside having my coffee, completely comfortable with me nearby (roughly 5-6 feet from my chair). She perches throughout the day. Last night, seen here, she settled onto it again and stayed so long - looking increasingly drowsy - that I legitimately started wondering if she was planning to spend the night there. (wishful thinking - she didn’t.)

One of my favorite things about backyard bird photography is learning that you don’t always have to go looking for the photograph. Sometimes you can create an environment where wildlife feels comfortable enough to come to you.

Canon USA EOS R5 + RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
254mm | 1/1000 sec | f/6.3 | ISO 6400

Sometimes the photograph is waiting ten steps outside my back door.This Calliope Hummingbird visited my backyard last su...
09/02/2026

Sometimes the photograph is waiting ten steps outside my back door.

This Calliope Hummingbird visited my backyard last summer, and I caught him just as he lifted his wings from one of his favorite spots among the flowers.

Hummingbirds don’t give you much time to think. I was shooting at 1/8000 sec to freeze that incredibly fast movement, wide open at f/4, and letting the ISO climb to 6400 to get the shutter speed I wanted.

Calliopes are hard to capture, not going to lie. They dart around at incredible speeds and don’t linger at any given feeding spot. Luckily, he really enjoyed this Mexican cigar plant (Cuphea ignea) and kept coming back to it. I planted twice as much of it this year simply for him. (He has yet to show up 😕)

Canon USA EOS R5 + RF600mm F4 L IS USM
600mm | 1/8000 | f/4 | ISO 6400

Light is only part of the equation. Sometimes the moment asks for speed.This male hummingbird was working the flowers fr...
08/30/2026

Light is only part of the equation. Sometimes the moment asks for speed.

This male hummingbird was working the flowers from deep in the shadows, with only the color of the sunlit garden behind him. To freeze that split second—the extended wing, tucked feet, and approach to the flower—I needed shutter speed more than I needed a low ISO.

So I let the ISO climb and kept the shutter fast.

Canon USA EOS R5 | RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
500mm | 1/4000 sec | f/7.1 | ISO 6400

I’ll take a little noise over a missed moment every time.

It’s been too long since I’ve laid eyes on one of these beautiful birds. Enjoying summer - but most definitely looking f...
08/09/2026

It’s been too long since I’ve laid eyes on one of these beautiful birds. Enjoying summer - but most definitely looking forward to winter 🦅🤎🦅
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Canon USA R5, RF 100-500mm @ 500, f/10, 1/3200 sec, ISO 800
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Cannon Beach was beautiful, and although cold and rainy most of our trip, we were gifted one warm, beautiful summer nigh...
07/26/2026

Cannon Beach was beautiful, and although cold and rainy most of our trip, we were gifted one warm, beautiful summer night.

Canon USA R5 + EF 24mm, f/8, 0.8 sec, ISO 100

This old gal took a talon to the face, just missing her eye. Felt very fresh when I took this image of her, and after wa...
04/19/2026

This old gal took a talon to the face, just missing her eye. Felt very fresh when I took this image of her, and after watching her all day, I was less and less surprised she was on the receiving end of this. She was aggressive, vicious, territorial and was instigating more incidents on this oyster bed than any other eagle out there. As you can imagine, I fell hard for this one. She bares an undeniable scar under that eye to this day. 🦅❤️🦅⁣
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⁣ R5, RF 600mm, f/4, 1/3200, ISO 1600
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Hands down (wings down 🤔) the hardest type of photo for me to edit - so I don’t, really. These two had been tussling all...
04/19/2026

Hands down (wings down 🤔) the hardest type of photo for me to edit - so I don’t, really. These two had been tussling all morning and then flew over me in fairly close range. The PNW is famous for its weather, and a dull, rainy sky with the sun who knows where left this pretty high key. Do I edit heavily to bring out some wing detail, or accept it for what it is? You can see what I chose. 🦅🦅

R5 600mm f/4 1/6400 sec, ISO 400

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