Violet Sabrewing

[Doug Brown]

I recently posted an image of a Green-Crowned Brilliant sitting on a heliconia. Someone commented on the imbalance of size between bird and flower. I stated that the setup was designed for a much larger hummingbird, and this is that bird. It's the largest species of hummingbird in Costa Rica but in spite of it's size, it's actually quite meek by hummingbird standards. A real beauty though.

http://birdwhisperer.smugmug.com/Animals/Birds/BPN/20100410-V5C5410-Violet/852864910_L8j2m-O-2.jpg

Canon 1D Mark IV, 70-200mm f/4 + 1.4x @ 268mm, f/16, 1/200, ISO 250, multiple flashes (4), tripod

[Morkel Erasmus]

this is a belter Doug...lovely colours, iridescence and composition...I have not seen the bird with my own eyes so take it as it comes, but could the blues be a bit oversaturated?

[Doug Brown]

This is a pretty faithful representation of the blues Morkel. Why do you think they're oversaturated?

[Morkel Erasmus]

they just look a bit oversaturated on my screen which is normally spot on...it could be the effect of the flash on hte blue feathers, but it might just be that I have not seen this bird which is why I stated that :)

[Doug Brown]

Here's a screen grab of the unprocessed RAW file at 100%.

[Aidan Briggs]

In the web version the blues look over-saturated to me as well. However the 100% looks fine. I love the flower set-up here. I do feel that the image could stand to be a bit brighter. I also would like to see the other wing better. I don't mean to sound overly critical; this is an excellent image as is.

Well Done!

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

This was such a beautiful hummingbird and you captured his vibrant color so well Doug. Fine work !

[Austin Thomas]

It looks very good to me Doug,

The action is well frozen and well lit.

What is the background ? and did you use a flash to illuminate the background as well?

Cheers

Austin

[Juan Aragonés]

Superb pose Doug, I love the eye contact, wing position and BG, perhaps colors area a bit cold (perhaps it is my monitor). the glower has something that doesn´t works for me, I am not sure if it is due to its size or due to the broken parts on the branch

[Michael Pancier]

beautiful work Doug. Does look a tad dark on my monitor too.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

I know this species pretty well and to me the colors are spot on. The plumage of this bird, as in many other hummer species, could turn very dark depending on the available light. Like I state above, this is how the bird looks in real life, yes it has dark plumage or its iridescence is on the dark side. Great wing details and sharpness of the beak. I don't like the hibiscus plant at all, since the stem over-powers the tiny flower.;)

[James Salywoda]

Gorgeous bird and shot Doug great wing position and composition. Colors look perfect to me.:)

[Doug Brown]

The RAW view and the JPEG look identical on my monitors. Could be a CS5 thing; this is the first image I've posted processed using the new software.

[Morkel Erasmus]

the screenshot looks good Doug...might be a browser/CS5 thing as you said. still an awesome capture.

[arash_hazeghi]

Excellent shot Doug, love the BG and pose, you sure know how to get the best out of the setup. just a tad dark on my screen. BTW, looking at the 100% crop, where was the focus point?

TFS

[Greg Basco]

Doug, cool shot. I have to agree that it looks a bit dark on my monitor too. My shots from this setup do have a brighter, sunnier look to them. Did you post-process differently?

Juan Carlos, I have to disagree with you on the flower; for me, without the stem the image would be quite sterile. I'm a big fan of including more than just a flower in hummingbird images. We'll talk more when we go out for hummingbird photography soon!

Cheers,
Greg

[Peter Hawrylyshyn]

Doug -
Well done , the colors look accurate to me. Nice composition, pose and details
I agree with Greg about it being a bit dark and also prefer having the stem included as part of the picture.

With four flashes, it limits the overall light/flash coverage. The far/underside of the bird is a bit too dark and the back neck & rear wing are slightly over-flashed likely because of the relative position of the HB to the flash placement.

Is there some mosaicism/color artifact showing thru on the BKGD?

Definitely a keeper - thanks for sharing

[Harshad Barve]

excellent capture Doug , nice pose of wings and awesome HA
TFS

[Doug Brown]

With four flashes, it limits the overall light/flash coverage. The far/underside of the bird is a bit too dark and the back neck & rear wing are slightly over-flashed likely because of the relative position of the HB to the flash placement.

Hi Peter. Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I don't feel that light is limited by 4 flashes. I'm not a big fan of perfectly illuminated hummingbirds, preferring instead the sense of sense of depth that comes from using only 3 flashes on the bird. This was the 3rd frame of the day and we had not yet had time to fine-tune our setup. The Sabrewing appeared unexpectedly, and I did not think to adjust my camera settings to accommodate the darker bird (my mistake). We used no more than 3 flashes on the birds during the entire workshop. I'd be interested in your thoughts after you see more of the images.

Again, thanks for taking the time to comment!