The Elusive Snowcap

[Doug Brown]

I went to Costa Rica one day before my annual workshop there, and my wife and I spent that day doing some photography of our own. We hired a driver and he mentioned that he knew a place along the way where the Snowcap could sometimes be seen. We decided to stop and have a look. We spent the better part of an hour at this spot and saw a couple of interesting species, but no Snowcap. As we were walking back to the car, I saw a flash of white against a dark green background and yelled 'Snowcap' to my wife. I raised my camera, adjusting my shutter speed a full stop faster as I brought the camera to my eye. I managed a quick burst of 3 frames before the Snowcap was gone. I peered down at the LCD to review the burst, and was thrilled to see this image! I was lucky to get both a clean BG and the flower in the same plane of focus as the bird, because he was only there for a second or two.

It's always a good idea to know what your camera exposure is set at when you're not actively taking photos. That way, you know how to compensate when something unexpected appears in front of you. Had I not adjusted my exposure as I was raising my camera up, the whites would have been totally cooked.

Nikon D850, 600mm + 1.4x, f/5.6, 1/2000, ISO 400, manual exposure, hand held

[John Mack]

Sounds like a great encounter you had. Like the flower and the dark background. Never heard of this hummer before. I enjoyed viewing this.

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice frame Doug, never seen a snow cap before. I'd pull up the shadows a bit more.

[Bill Dix]

Nice work catching this little beauty. I agree that lifting the shadows might help. A few years ago I was hiking in a light rain in the highlands of Panama, and as the rain became heavier I put the camera into the protection of my backpack and headed back down the trail. Needless to say, that is when one of these little hummers suddenly appeared and hovered in plain view for just a few seconds, as he did for you. Your foresight and quick reaction paid off.

[Doug Brown]

Appreciate the feedback. Shadow slider is already at +100 in LR and blacks are at +24. Noise is a problem if I push much more than that. Those whites are seriously bright! Here's what it looked like at 100% before processing. I was happy that I could bring up the darks as much as I did.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Doug, not bad for what sounds like a grab shot :w3 infact very well captured. Great angled pose towards both you and the flower, and the iridescence pops nicely from the darker BG. I do like the single droplet on the flower. Congrats on getting your shot.

[arash_hazeghi]

Appreciate the feedback. Shadow slider is already at +100 in LR and blacks are at +24. Noise is a problem if I push much more than that. Those whites are seriously bright! Here's what it looked like at 100% before processing. I was happy that I could bring up the darks as much as I did.

send me the RAW. I think I can pull up more with no noise.

[Doug Brown]

I'll be most interested to see what you are able to do with the RAW file Arash!