Female Ruby-throated hummingbird

[John Goldman]

Hard to believe, here is proof, female Ruby-throated hummingbirds sometimes do stop flying and perch.
Canon 5DmkIII, 300mm2.8+2X TC, ss 1/500, f6.3, ISO 1600. Some noise reduction, NIK Color Efex tonal contrast, crop for composition, cloned out some distractions, darkened the branch in front of the birds beak(wish it weren't so close).

[John Chardine]

Hi John- Lot's of detail here. I like the colour and light. Your note about the branch is spot on. Some movement to the right would have at least reduced the coincidence of the bill and branch, but you still have that "mess" to the right. It's a bit of a job but fairly easy to clone out all the branches to the right, except the large one which supports the small one for the bird. It is much preferable to do this in-camera by picking your background and surrounds but often much harder.

[John Goldman]

Thank you, John, for reinforcing my disappointment with the branch placement, and encouragement.
I had moved to my right as far as I could go and still have clear sight of the bird. I thought I was fortunate, at least, to be able to position the camera so the branch didn't intersect with the beak.

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Superb image with lots of detail! The BG is awesome.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Great pose and detail on the bird. Shame you hadn't moved just a hair to the right to avoid contact with the branch.

[Diane Miller]

I just saw this thread and have to say that I like the branches on the right. They are subdued in contrast, the perfect, subtle color, provide a context for the bird and are pleasingly OOF without the bad bokeh that is sometimes seen in OOF branches. The only thing about them that bothers me is the one that is just cut into by the frame -- I'd like to see all of it with some breathing room, if it was cropped in post.

Would have been better without the beak touching the branch, but burning it down was a nice touch.

All in all, I'd rate this as an excellent image!