Still life with hummer

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

134489

Caught a slight hesitation on full upswing of the wings... can't see it in the small jpeg but some fine feather detail in a good portion of the wing. Thus the still life title ;-)...
D4 300f/2.8 + TC20EIII (600mm) 1/3200 at f/16 ISO6400 Full frame - no crop
NR, Two passes with Topaz Simplify 1st mostly for color (flower and hummer) 2nd for bg. Detailing. Topaz Adjust Cool Tone II tames the colors. Sharpened BPN sized image for posting.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Anita Bower]

Love the position of the Hummingbird and the flower. And, the details--that eye, those feathers--marvelous. The intricate flower is just right, also. The only thing that bothers me is the background. Simplify certainly diminished its busyness, but I wish it didn't intrude as much. Maybe cloning out some of the strong lines going into the bird, and those around the wings. Just a thought. I'm impressed by the details and the colors.

[Jackie Schuknecht]

I keep looking for sharpening halos but don't see any! This is a beauty! I agree the BG is a bit busy and might just clone out that one diagonal stick from the bird to the LLC. Overall stunning sharpness and colours.

[Nancy Bell]

Wow, that flower is stunning! And a very nice hummingbird attending to it! Exquisite details. I agree about the busy bkdg. One idea would be to desaturate it some in addition to cloning out the one diagonal stick.

[Diane Miller]

Beautiful!! I love it when you can see all the details on the feathers!

I think I'd take some off the top (halfway to the bird's head, and from the left, halfway to the tail. Then the bird really stands out. I agree on that diagonal stem -- looks easy to prune out.

[gary ellwein]

Michael, great detail and color in the flower and hummer. Nancy's suggestion of taking some off the top is worthy of consideration. It would reduce some of the bg .

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Anita, Jackie, Nancy, Diane, Gary,

Thanks much for your comments. They are greatly appreciated. I agree that the bg could use some work. Went & shot some more this morning concentrating more on the bg & trying for a balance between the flower & the hummer. I think I got a few good ones... will post later.

By the way, this was shot at the University of California at Santa Cruz Arboretum. They have a section of plants from Australia that are particularly attractive to hummingbirds. This particular flower is Grevillea "Mason's Hybrid". This time of year there are only Anna's Hummingbirds, but toward the spring the Allen's Hummingbirds migrate through and the Anna's stay out of their way.

Cheers,

-Michael-