The Intruder

[James Babbitt]

This shot was also taken from our balcony in Mindo, EC. I placed sugar water in the flower and soon a multitude of hummingbirds were coming. This shot looks flashed (it was not) and also looks like birds were Photoshopped into the picture (they were not). 4 birds, 3 different species. The three on the left (Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, and Green Thorntail (female) did not take kindly to the intrusion of the White-whiskered Hermit on the right. This confrontation deteriorated quickly.
Shot with a Canon R7, 100-500 lens (at 100mm), f/7.1, SS 1/2000 and ISO of 6400. Cropped from R and bottom, BG darkened, desaturated, slightly blurred. Cropped from R and bottom.
I moved slightly from the previous shot I posted and the sun was higher but unfortunately I could not make a silk purse from a sow's ear, so the BG is what it was. Even at 100 mm, f/7.1 the DOF was not enough to get all the birds sharp but Topaz DN AI did a pretty good job with the sharpness and ISO 6400 in the R7.

[Daniel Cadieux]

That is a fun image! All birds look sharp enough (thanks Topaz), and the one who's back is facing us has enough head turn to make all four bills visible in a pleasing arrangement. The BG does have a few brighter spots that are somewhat distracting, but overall it is still pretty good IMO. The main issue, at least IMO, is the large amount of empty space above. Cropping up there would improve the comp. Fun stuff!

[Dorian Anderson]

I dunno, I think the sharpness looks really good across all four birds - that's great work at such high ISO! All the birds are colorful, and the fact that you got the eyes on each more really let's us see who's interacting with who. I don't think you could have done better given the imperfect conditions. I agree about the empty space at the top of the frame - lose it!

[James Babbitt]

Thank you both for your thoughts. I will go back and rethink the crop.