Magnificent Hummingbird

[Tom Callahan]

Canon 40D
Sigma 70-300mm
ISO 100
F/25
1/250
Multiple flash. I think the BG could be smoother, but the BG was a bit too close. comments?
Thoughts about smoothing the BG in PS?
Thanks

[Grady Weed]

I could not help you on the background smoothing issue. I would ask you however if you applied sharpening here on the head. It appears to me the head is soft or perhaps the head angle is reflecting to much light and makes the eye look soft. At least it does to me. The body does appear blocked up color wise. Did you use contrast correction? I hope I do not appear too critical. Just my few observations. I have seen your work before and liked it.

[Lana Hays]

Tom
I love the hummer but as you stated......the BG needs to be smoothed. It would be even nicer if there had been a flower in the image.....make it more realistic and add interest and color. I played with it a little bit......selected the BG and used Smart Blur and then selected just the head and added a touch of sharpening. With the contrast of colors in the BG I found it hard to smooth and yet make attractive. I'd definitely move the BG back if you try this again. See what you think about the repost....I'm not sure there's much of a difference.

[Tom Callahan]

Lana
Thanks for your response. Your repost BG is a little smoother and the hummer is brighter. Grady says the color looks "blocked up" and I assume that means blotchy? This hummer was blotchy looking in real life. A lot of the hummers were not as sharp as I had hoped and I'm wondering if the flashes needed to be powered down more to create and even faster flash and in essence a faster shutter speed. I liked this image as the hummer had the look of a painting. I'm going to post one more hummer image for comments and also need an Id on it.
Lana I tried selecting and using gaussian blur and it smooths it out just fine but I don't have the skills to not mess up around the edges of the hummer.
Thanks to your input.
Tom

[Grady Weed]

Tom, I meant the colors are a bit too dark and have lost some of the definition. But if it was blotchy or ragged looking, it might have been a hummer that was not fully in prime plummage. James Prudente does a lot of hummers and is more of expert at ID's and such. He posts here on BPN.

[Lana Hays]

Tom
This image does have a "painting" and is definitely worth the work. Gaussian blur would smooth it out if you used a lot.......it would take some work though through a mask or something to get the edges of the bird/BG to look right. I was just trying to do a quick job to see what I could do. Sometimes you get get by with just a little Gaussian blur and not have all the trouble. You guys amaze me with the multiple flash system.....I have enough trouble using just one.

[Maxis Gamez]

I like Lana's re-post. I would work in the eye and remove some of the catch lights!!

[Tom Callahan]

Thanks all

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

I like the repost a lot but there is a very evident halo around the beak.

[Gus Cobos]

Love the repost by Lana.
A very fine capture...I like the wing position and the color rendition...:cool: