Humming Bird

[Jay Sheinfield]

I shot this bird through tall grass.............does it work?

nikon d3s
ISO 1600
1/1600sec @ f/6.3
550mm

all comments welcome

[Julie Kenward]

Jay, I think you got pretty lucky here but a better head angle and being able to clearly see the feet would have created an even stronger image IMO. I don't so much mind the color wash of the grass over his body and you did get his head and body nicely frozen but the head turned away from us ever so slightly and those cloudy feet do detract from the image to me. I do think it was a very nice attempt, though!

[John Chardine]

Jay- Agree with Jules about the head angle. You really need CW rotation of the head by a few degrees. When I'm making images of a subject like this I'm hitting the shutter release when I think the HA looks good, and laying off when the bird looks away like this. When I'm with photographer friends it's a bit like the sound of a presidential press conference where he looks a certain way or gestures and all the cameras fire at once! The other thing I would consider is giving more room at the top- it is usually the case the more room at the top compared to the bottom works the best- not always, but usually. In this case you are trying to retain that splash of yellow in the LR corner so you will need to add quite a bit to the top. Do you have it in the original or is this crop out of the camera?

[Jay Sheinfield]

Hi John,

Good feedback...................no room at the top. HA is one of those things I generally try and get right. In fact, I missed it until Jules mentioned it.

Julie,

Thanks...........it was a dreamy-like image, that I though I could luck into. Oh well!

Jay

[Lance Peters]

Hi Jay - looks like the HAP have placed you under arrest - agree with Jules and Johns comments.
More room at the top might have improved the composition a little.
Keep em coming :)

[John Chardine]

Jay- You can add some canvas at the top and use the existing BG to fill. Have you ever tried this?

[Thanaboon Jearkjirm]

I don't mind the blurry grass on part of the bird as the head looks sharp, but as mentioned more head turn would make this image even better. Also agree with some more space at the top. Like how you try to include the flower into the picture, help in telling a story. Wish there was a clearer separation between the beak and the background too.

[Jay Sheinfield]

Hi Folks, Want to take another look at HA.

Just for the heck of it I went back to the original and re-worked, its still a work-in-progress (the beak and BG)

I added some canvass at the top....

I corrected a noise reduction blur of the feet..........

and did some work on the birds lighting.........

Please take a look at the HA again and give me feedback. As I look at the head relative to the shoulders I'm having trouble seeing much HA problem, of course my eyes are old :D.

Inevitably tis image may not work, but I'm just curious.

[Jay Sheinfield]

Hi Folks, Want to take another look at HA.

Just for the heck of it I went back to the original and re-worked, its still a work-in-progress (the beak and BG)

I added some canvass at the top....

I corrected a noise reduction blur of the feet..........

and did some work on the birds lighting.........

Please take a look at the HA again and give me feedback. As I look at the head relative to the shoulders I'm having trouble seeing much HA problem, of course my eyes are old :D.

Inevitably tis image may not work, but I'm just curious.

[John Chardine]

Hi Jay- Have a look at the head angle (HA) link here (there are others scattered all over BPN, the home of the head angle police):

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?69803-Head-Angle-Fine-Points

Perhaps there is a misunderstanding about what is meant by head angle. If you draw a line through from the back centre of the head, through the middle of the head and out through the bill to the end, it is the angle of this line relative to the sensor plain of your camera, not the body of the bird that is important. Your subject's head is angled away from the plain of the sensor by quite a few degrees, and angles like this rarely if ever work well because you lose the connection with the subject and the eye contact is poor. Angles parallel to the sensor or towards the sensor by a few degrees usually work well, and this depends somewhat on the circumstances, the angle of the body of the bird etc.

Hope this clears things up.

[Jay Sheinfield]

John,

Thanks, I just had trouble visualizing this one...............................Jay