Red-footed plumeteer hummingbird

[Greg Basco]

Hi to all. Here's another hummingbird taken with a multiple-strobe setup. It's a red-footed plumeteer hummingbird visiting a native epiphyte in the African violet family (can't recall the genus of the flower right now). I actually like the background, as tropical foliage can give you these tones in the right light, but I fear it may be too saturated for some people's tastes. (By the way, it's the actual color of the fabric background, not saturation applied in PS). In any case, I'll be interested to read people's opinions.

http://www.deepgreenphotography.com/forums/plumeteer.jpg

Cheers from Costa Rica,
Greg

Tech: Canon 20D, 75-300 mm IS lens, 6 strobes, f16, 1/250, ISO 200

[Charles Mills]

It all looks splendid to me.

[Nicki Gwynn Jones]

Hi Greg,
I just love the saturated colours - those pink feet are great!
Regards,
Nicki

[Glenn Bartley]

Looks awesome to me Greg. Love the lighting. Very natural looking.

It looks like there is something a bit weird going on with the top of the near wing? Not sure if it is from processing or ghosting?

By the way - didn't they rename this species to bronzy-tailed plumeleteer?? (stupid if you ask me given the red-feet)

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Wonderful image Greg! love those red feet! this kind of BG are some of my favorites, may be a bit lighter for my taste but this one works fine.
About the plant you have here, it looks like a Kohleria, Kohleria spicata.
Glenn is right, they change the name of this fellow to Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer Chalybura urochrysia.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Stunning flight pose and oh those little feet make it for me.. Great composition and eye contact. Really fine work !!!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Very clean presentation. I hate to point out something to improve on such a beautiful image, but there is a sharpening halo along the throat that can be easily corrected. Otherwise simply superb! :-)

[Gus Cobos]

Nicely done Greg,
I like the vibrant, saturated colors...:cool:

[Glenda Simmons]

Beautiful bird...beautiful job capturing it. I think just a tad lighter background would make the bird stand out more, but I sure would be happy if I took this one!

[Ed Cordes]

To my eye this is outstanding! I like the BG a lot and I agree the feet are special.

[Sudhir Shivaram]

Hi Greg,

This is a lovely image. perfect in all sense. I background goes very well with the colours of the bird. This would make a lovely postcard.

Regards,
Sudhir

[Bruce Enns]

Hi Greg, a great shot in all respects and it sounds like it was a lot of work. The lightling on the bird looks very natural, and the little red feet are way cool. I agree with Glenda in that a slightly toned down background would be more to my taste. Do I understand your message correctly that this was a fabric background and not actual foliage?

Bruce

[Greg Basco]

Hi, and thanks for everyone's comments so far. Glenn and Juan Carlos, thanks for the ID update. Ornithologists sure do have a knack for naming things according to their least obvious characteristics, eh? Juan Carlos, thanks also for the plant reminder; it is indeed Kohleria, which is of course, a beautiful weed down here!

Daniel, thanks for pointing out the sharpening halo.

I also appreciate the comments on the background, which is of course, a matter of taste. I actually favor darkish backgrounds, but I am going to work on a somewhat lighter version of this background for future shots -- back to the fabric store!

Finally, Bruce, yes the background is painted fabric. Since there is no natural light entering this exposure (it's full-flash), the only way to avoid a black background is to have a strobe do the background work. You might be able to do this with natural foliage, but it's generally easier to obtain the OOF background look with fabric or some other type of artificial background. I also have some that are actual prints of OOF leaves and such. I believe this is what Glenn B. is using for his hummingbird work. Please correct me if I'm wrong, Glenn.

Cheers,
Greg

[Daniel Cadieux]

Greg, he additional info is appreciated - thanks for taking the time to expand on that :-)

[Bruce Enns]

Yes, thanks Greg, the additional info is much appreciated.

Cheers!
Bruce