PDA

View Full Version : Hummingbird


EdNguyen
05-27-2009, 07:15 PM
30D + 500mm f/4 IS lens + 1.4x TC, 1/1250s, f/5.6, ISO 800, EV +1, handheld
http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt29/nhankhanh/BirdPhotographersNetPosts/IMG_2644small3.jpg
Randy Stout
05-27-2009, 09:01 PM
Ed:

Very interesting composition. You did well to keep the bird in your plane of focus with that f/stop. I find I generally need to shoot at least f/8 - f/11 to consistently do that. This of course means more light, so some fill flash helps in many cases.

I like the birds pose, the flowers, sharpness is good, but I would do another pass of USM on the eye/head.

My biggest concern is the exposure. The image is much too bright for my tastes. The hummer looks washed out. I would also selectively darken the foilage below, which competes with the bird.

Taking hummer pictures is kind of addictive. Hope to see more..

Randy
Randy Stout
05-27-2009, 09:14 PM
Ed:

I had a minute to do a couple of tweaks on your image.

1) lowered overall brightness
2) selectively lowered flowers at bottom of frame
3) Adjusted saturation and contrast of bird

This is def. not a finished product on my part, but I do think it might provide some food for thought on how to tweak your original. The flowers below def. need some further work, and I might tone down the red flowers above just a bit.

Cheers

Randy
Kobus Tollig
05-28-2009, 12:54 PM
Super image wow. Great comp and bg. Also good action. Like what Randy did
EdNguyen
05-28-2009, 02:56 PM
Ed:

I had a minute to do a couple of tweaks on your image.

1) lowered overall brightness
2) selectively lowered flowers at bottom of frame
3) Adjusted saturation and contrast of bird

This is def. not a finished product on my part, but I do think it might provide some food for thought on how to tweak your original. The flowers below def. need some further work, and I might tone down the red flowers above just a bit.

Cheers

Randy

Thanks so much for your feedback, Randy. The new image looks much better. I will try tweaking the flowers and toning down the red flowers more. I was shooting double-crested cormorants in flight against a bright sky, thus the +1EV, and didn't have time to change the exposure when the hummer suddenly showed up. Should have used manual exposure mode.
EdNguyen
05-28-2009, 02:59 PM
Super image wow. Great comp and bg. Also good action. Like what Randy did

Thanks for the compliment, Kobus. I didn't expect the hummer to show up right in front of me out of nowhere, so I had to back up a few meters :)