Hummingbird w/plant

[CM Prince]

Nikon D90, 50/500 lens, 1/4000 at f/6.3, ISO 800, 500 mm, tripod

133502

The plant was added after crop

All C&C greatly appreciated.
just trying to improve

Thanks for looking

C M

[Loi Nguyen]

Hi CM, the main issue here is the main subject is not in good focus. Your SS is fast so that is not the issue. These birds are really fast, so which AF mode are you using. Adding a plant afterward does not help here and it looks too obvious. Loi

[Diane Miller]

I agree with Loi that the IQ on the bird could be better. I think it was a good try at adding the plant, with a couple of caveats. Since the plant is in focus, that makes it a little more expected that the bird is OOF, but it's a bit of a quandary which one should be the main subject.

That aside, there is some haloing around the plant but it's lighting and exposure are consistent with the bird. The frame is too crowded on the left -- I'd add more canvas there and crop on the right. And do some NR on the BG.

A good learning experience-- keep trying! Hummers are a challenge to shoot.