For years it has been my ambition to photograph a humming bird. Photographically speaking it is significant challenge. At about two inches in length, you either need to be very close or use a big telephoto lens. Then there is the matter of those wings, beating at up to 30 beats per second, requiring a very fast shutter speed and/or short duration flash. Finally, you need to find one and track it through the air. Jeanine’s recently filled nectar feeder removed one of the big variables and all I had to do was wait for about thirty minutes before this little fellow showed up. I noticed he likes a particular flower in the garden as well. Perhaps I will catch him there with a more pleasing background next time.

Somewhat larger in size, Nicolai did some of his own mid-air hovering on the campus of Wellesley College. Jeanine, my nephew John, and Nico watched Maya’s last soccer game of the season before we took a few moments to make some videos of Nicolai doing front and back flips with and without his crutches. He is putting these clips together for another SideStix promotional video. Here we added to his collection of “levitation” photos.