Wildlife Feature | Allen's Hummingbird

June 18, 2021

Undeniably enjoyable to observe, hummingbirds are easy to identify as they announce their presence with a trill while flying. Over the past few years, I've taken numerous photos of Allen's Hummingbirds in particular. My wonderful in-laws have a beautiful garden with feeders hung throughout, where these birds zip around, constantly feeding. I decided to switch my camera to video mode to finally capture these captivating creatures both inside and outside the garden. Take a moment to appreciate these swift, nectar-seeking birds as they dart from flower to flower in the video below.

This time around instead of going the standard 60fps video and slow down in post route, for the majority of this video I decided to switch Fujifilm’s X-T3 to the FullHD 120fps 5x slow motion mode. This setting provided the opportunity to get a more intimate look at how these beautiful birds flutter about.

Female in Flight

This female Allen’s Hummingbird uses precise aiming to access nectar from a feeder.

For the shoot location, I luckily stumbled on a place that had these beautiful pink and yellow flowers identified as Lantana “Pink Huff” and vibrant deep red Anigozanthos rufus Backdraft that the hummingbirds were absolutely obsessing over. These flower provided a perfect background to watch how the birds interacted. It was so beautiful that I actually came back the second day at the exact same time to capture more footage.

Check out some of the my favorite Allen’s Hummingbird photos taken of these particular birds over the past few years with the X-T3.

Male Allen's Hummingbird on a String

Female Allen's Hummingbird

Male Allen's Hummingbird Peeking

Curious Male Allen's Hummingbird

Tiny Allen's Hummingbird

Sunbathing Allen's Hummingbird

Flying Allen's Hummingbird

Wildlife Feature | Southern California Crabs

June 23, 2020

Don’t worry! Contrary to popular belief, I haven’t “lost it” or “gone crazy” (yet). Just another fun & creative passion project to dive into - and this time, it’s ALL about crabs! In a constant pursuit of my own interests in wildlife videography, photography, and information I’ve created treats in the form of stylistic imagery and highly detailed informative videos for all those interested.

In this blog you’ll see some crabs I’ve encountered within a year’s span - mostly in SoCal. With all that said, let’s get started with some generic crab facts - scroll down for video & photos!

Generic Crab Facts

There are more than 4,500 species of crabs.
Crabs are omnivores; eating both meat & plants.
Female pregnancy only last one or two weeks - then they lay between 1,000 to 2,000 eggs!
Groups of crabs living together are known as “casts.”
The average lifespan of a crab is 3 to 4 years.

The Fiddler Crab

There May be around 100 species of Fiddler Crab. Males have the big claw, known as a chela; while females have two normal sized claws. As for habitat they prefer mud flats, lagoons and swamps.

The male’s claw is used in battle of ritualised combat of courtship over a female and signal their intentions between other crabs. The movement of the smaller claw from ground to mouth during feeding explains the crabs' common name; because it seems as if the animal were playing the larger claw like a “fiddle”.

Females will choose their mate based on claw size and also the quality of their waving display.

Like all crabs, fiddler crabs shed their shells as they grow. If they’ve lost legs or claws during their present growth cycle, a new one will come in when they molt. Craziest fact - If the large fiddle claw is lost, males will develop one on the opposite side after their next molt. Newly molted crabs tend to be very vulnerable because of their soft shells. They are reclusive and hide until the new shell hardens.

The Striped Shore Crab

The Striped Shore Crab AKA Lined Shore Crab AKA Pachygrapsus crassipes can be found all over Southern California’s rocky shorelines. They present beautiful colors of green and brown stripes on their shell, red claws, and a somewhat purple underbelly.

They’ll spend half it’s time on land, but will purposely submerge to wet its gills and can stay alive on land for up to 70 hours.

They’ll mate once, maybe twice a year. When the eggs are fertilized, they are held under the belly of the female. The crab eggs hatch into zoea larva, which turns into megalopae larva (the size is less than a centimeter), and then into crabs.

Pachygrapsus crassipes is omnivorous, which means it eats both plants and animals. The main diet consists of specific red and green algaes and brown seaweed. However, Pachygrapsus crassipes also eats diatoms, worms, muscles, and small dead fish, limpets, snails, hermit crabs, and isopods. Pachygrapsus crassipes can also become cannibalistic and eat each other (usually this occurs when they still have their soft-shell after molting)!

The Hermit Crab

The hermit crab is a decapod — toting five pairs of legs, which includes a pair of claws. Defense and food shredding as well as eating are the primary uses of the claws. The second and third pairs of legs help the crab walk, and the last two pairs hold the hermit crab in its shell.

There are over 800 different species of hermit crab. They’re also oddly named because they’re more closely related to certain kinds of lobsters than a crab. This is due to their bodies - which are a hard exoskeleton on the front with a soft tail on the back.

Hermit crabs have been used as pets and found in tourist shops but this is not a good practice as they don’t breed well in captivity. When the hermit crab dies, it releases pheromones signaling other crabs that there may be a shell available which then lures other crabs to a death trap.

Photo Feature | Featured on Fujifilm X/GFX USA Instagram

December 7, 2019

This morning I woke up, sipped my morning coffee, and chatted about upcoming Christmas shopping chaos on the couch with my GF. Suddenly, I received an Instagram notification on my phone from @FujifilmX_US. To my complete surprise they they had shared one of my photos from a Manhattan Beach, CA pier photo excursion. Of course, like anyone would I jumped off the couch and ran around the house in celebration.

Photo Featured: Sunday’s Sunset | Manhattan Beach, CA | Fujifilm X-T3 XF55-200mmF3.5-4.8 LM OIS 1/550 sec. - f5.6 - ISO 160

There was (and still is) an opportunity to submit photos for them to post to their Insta for their #MyFujifilmLegacy series, and honestly - I didn’t think I had a shot at being featured. I figured there are hundred’s of AWESOME photographers submitting and I’d just be another one to sift through. I’m shocked and honored they chose my photo to be featured. Nothing feels better than getting a little recognition by the company who created the device you use to craft your art!

BTS | Molly Fitzpatrick | @MollySunshine9

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Photography has been and always will be a passion for me. I love just taking my X-T3 out wherever I go and look for opportunities to shoot. Instagram has been a great platform to share on - and the Fujifilm community has been welcoming and informative whether it’s on Reddit, Youtube or Insta. I still feel like there’s a lot to learn - and there’s always room to improve. But as a starting point, for me, this is pretty damn cool. Thanks to you all & Fujifilm for the support! Much love & stay creative!

Check out some other photos from that afternoon’s sunset that turned out pretty cool below: