Green-Crowned Brilliant

[Doug Brown]

I arrived in Costa Rica a couple of days before the workshop began, and Greg Basco and I spent an entire day doing multiple flash hummingbird photography near Bosque de Paz. The subject of this image took quite a liking to the heliconia in our setup, and guarded it jealously.

http://birdwhisperer.smugmug.com/Animals/Birds/BPN/20100410-V5C5886-Green-Crowned/847259861_YiFto-O.jpg

Canon 1D Mark IV, 70-200mm f/4 + 1.4x @ 161mm, f/16, 1/200, ISO 320, multiple flashes (4), tripod

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Doug, first time Ive seen a HB "holding on". ;) I thought they enjoyed hovering for their food. The sharpness and detail on the HB are simply brilliant. Just love the green iridescence too. Congrats on a fine image.

[Hugo Estévez]

Great job!! I like very much. Is the background natural?

[Sid Garige]

Fantastic details and exposure Doug. Excellent image.

[Verena Meraldi]

What a beautiful image! The details are amazing, thanks for sharing!

[Doug Brown]

This is a printed BG.

[Ofer Levy]

The bird looks awesome and falsh work looks spot on to me. However, flower is a bit overpowring in here - both in size and colours.

[Doug Brown]

However, flower is a bit overpowring in here - both in size and colours.

We actually set up the flower to lure in a much bigger species (Violet Sabrewing), but this hummer claimed the heliconia as his.

[Peter Hawrylyshyn]

Doug
Nicely done. Flash and exposure settings look perfect. Great wing position. Nice job with the BKGD.
Some separation of the bill from the heliconia would have put it over the top
I think the small ants must have been in competition with the HB for the flower.
Excellent job - thanks for sharing

[Arsdel Fluesmeier]

The sharpness and brightness are great. Detail very good. I believe I would crop a bit of the flower tho.
Just my opinion.

[Greg Basco]

Doug, looks good. I'm really happy with the lighting we had going that day; I hope you like the lighting scheme too. Though I understand Ofer's point about the flower (it is bright!), I still like it. To me, the bright colors show just what attract the hummingbirds to Heliconias. I agree with Peter in wishing that the beak had been right in the flower instead of just behind (I mean the actual small yellow flower where he was feeding).

Stuart, green-crowned brilliants are one species that loves to perch when feeding so this is a pretty typical pose for this guy.

Cheers,
Greg

[Katie Rupp]

Hi Doug, great detail; love the tiny feet and the marching ants:) Gorgeous Costa Rica color!

[Peter Coskun]

Beautiful capture. I like the balance of colors between the greens and reds. Amazing detail on the bird itself.

[Harshad Barve]

Fantastic details and exposure Doug, Mighty fine image
TFS

[arash_hazeghi]

This is awesome Doug, love the pose and details!!! Masterful setup!!!

[Gyorgy Szimuly]

This is very nice Doug. It so cool how trying to find a fixed point to avoid unnecessary wing beats.

Szimi

[Ondrej Prosicky]

Very nice, I like hummingbirds!

[Doug Brown]

Masterful setup!!!

I wish I could take credit for the setup; this was Greg's work.

[Markus Jais]

Fantastic shot with wonderful colors, sharpness and detail. Excellent wing pose. I must go to Costa Rica :)

Markus

[Doug Brown]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. We had a great time that day!

[Greg Basco]

Hi, Doug. Thanks for the props on the setup. It was fun to work with you, and I consider this image a collaborative effort because we discussed how we were going to do things and fine-tuned the lighting together. Plus you pushed the button!:)

Cheers,
Greg

[Pam Handyside]

This is a printed BG.

Fantastic shot and wonderful colours and movement. For the uninitiated, what is a 'printed background' and how is this done? Thanks.:)

[Doug Brown]

For the uninitiated, what is a 'printed background' and how is this done? Thanks.:)

Sorry for not explaining Pam. To stop a hummingbird's wings in flight, we rely on a technique using multiple flashes and an artificial BG. You underexpose your camera by several stops (so that it renders a black exposure) and use the brief pulse of light (around 1/10,000 sec) created by the flashes to freeze the hummingbird. Without an artificial BG and a flash directed at it, the BG would be totally black.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Wonderful capture doug and I love the pose you captured in this image. Beautiful work !!!!!

[Pam Handyside]

Thankyou Doug. You have explained this very well and now I understand.:)