No long lens, no flash, many hummers... RF glass rocks...(2)

[David Roach]

EOS R RF 24-105 @195 f4 1/400 ISO 1600 manual mode

To make the fact I didn't bring any birding lens worse, my daughter, knowing I'm a birding nut planned a side trip to Mindo (cloud forest mecca for hummers, tanagers and others). While I was very happy with bino views of many colorful species, it was driving me nuts that I couldn't get close enough with the 105mm. As we walked on the trail one hummer did land relatively close. It was relatively dark as the only light filtered through the canopy and the back grounds were always close (the trail being the only clearing). So, this, my best attempt was still only 25% of the full frame. Next time the 100-400 is coming with me and I still can't wait for telephoto RF glass.

[Aditya Sridhar]

This is a beautiful bird and the perch is great. The composition and busy BG don't work for me unfortunately, and I can see a lot of blotchy noise. There are some strong halos around the bird too. Hope you're able to get closer next time :bg3: TFS

[Randy Stout]

David:

I call this type of image a "reminder shot". Or perhaps a "next time" shot. When you see it you will remember the outing, and work to be able to do a bit more next time!

A beautiful bird, well exposed, but agree with Aditya's comments..

Cheers

Randy

[Daniel Cadieux]

Beautiful perch and bird, but here is a "three-peat" of the above critiques. Yep, the 100-400 will be better next time!:S3:

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Agree with the comments.

In my Opinion specially for humming birds, Background has to be clean to have impact.

TFS

[gail bisson]

I cannot believe you went to Ecuador without your biggest lens.:Whoa!: 40 lashes!!!
What kind of a hummingbird is this?
Gail

[David Roach]

I cannot believe you went to Ecuador without your biggest lens.:Whoa!: 40 lashes!!!
What kind of a hummingbird is this?
Gail

Yes, Gail my main reason for trip was to see my daughter and my grandson. I had always been afraid to travel out of country with camera gear (especially my longer birding lens) for fear of it being damaged. So, this was my first time with camera and smaller lens. The 100-400 is small enough to fit in backpack and be carried on. So, next time! There are literally hundreds of hummingbird varieties in Ecuador. The birding guide has no less than 7 full page plates with around 40 each. So, it is hard to be sure, but my best guess is a rufous-tailed humming bird. Thanks to all for helpful comments. The lighter areas around the tail and head were actually in the raw file as only processing was NR on BG and slightly lightening the EXP.

[John Mack]

Agree with what has been said here.