Photographer Captures the Rainbows in Hummingbird Wings

Australian photographer Christian Spencer has spent 19 years living in Brazil’s Itatiaia National Park, and one of the things he has focused his camera on is the beautiful sight of sunlight passing through hummingbird wings. His project is titled Winged Prism.

Hummingbirds are the smallest of birds, and some species can zip around at over 34 mph (54 km/h) while flapping their wings at over 80 times per second.

While studying these hard-to-photograph birds, Spencer noticed that the wings would create a prism-like effect when sunlight passed through them, causing rainbow colors to appear. He then began working to snap photos of hummingbirds passing between his lens and the Sun in order to capture these rainbows on camera.

Wings of Light © Christian Spencer
Solar © Christian Spencer
The Hermit and the Jacobin © Christian Spencer
The Eclipse © Christian Spencer
Winged Prism © Christian Spencer
Cloud Angel © Christian Spencer
Divine Light © Christian Spencer
The Ballerina © Christian Spencer
Stardust © Christian Spencer
Hummingbird Geometry © Christian Spencer
Rainbow Ballet © Christian Spencer

You can find more of Spencer’s photos on his website and Instagram. Prints are also available on Spencer’s site.

(via Christian Spencer via Creative Boom)


Image credits: Photographs by Christian Spencer and used with permission

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