Green Thorntail [Archive] - BirdPhotographers.net

Doug Brown

02-27-2012, 11:27 AM

I've done a lot of multiple flash hummingbird photography in Costa Rica, but this was the first time a Green Thorntail male paid a visit to my setup. I was happy that it had nice long tail feathers, but it made composition a little tricky.

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Canon 1D Mark IV, 70-300mm L @ 214mm, f/16, 1/200, ISO 320, manual exposure, 4 flashes, tripod

Stu Bowie

02-27-2012, 11:49 AM

Hi Doug, amazingly sharp, and Im fine with the comp as is. I really like the green iridescence on the HB, and one has to look carefully to see how long that tail actually is, as the tips blend into the BG. ( not a nit :w3 ) I also like how the greens of the BG gradually change from lighter greens to darker greens in the ULC.

Bill Dix

02-27-2012, 12:12 PM

A beautiful shot were it just any hummer. Special congrats for getting this guy, in such a handsome image. Comp works for me.

Jonathan Ashton

02-27-2012, 12:42 PM

Beautiful shot, lovely coordination of colours and I like the composition. The bird is pin sharp and the flash is beautifully balanced.

Greg Basco

02-27-2012, 01:25 PM

Doug, I'm glad you got one of these little guys. They are very cool, and this flower (Kohleria, a native epiphyte) is a good one for this species. Was this the best catchlight to leave? Usually this lighting scheme will leave one a bit higher. Given the slight head turn upward though, I do realize that the main catchlight may have been right up against the edge of the eye.

Cheers,
Greg

Cheryl Arena Molennor

02-27-2012, 01:57 PM

Tail feathers are great and I really like the bg too. Those little curled up toes are a plus.

jack williamson

02-27-2012, 03:01 PM

Very sharp, nice bg, cool flower, great flash work.

Jack

Dan Brown

02-27-2012, 03:49 PM

A fine specimen, Doug. Techs are top notch as always. I can't see any way for you to improve the comp. As you mention, the long tail at that angle along with the upright flower spike leave a huge negative area in the upper right of the frame (room for some nice title text for a show!). I suppose, that if you had expected this species to visit, you would have used another setup to fit the bird. It's a fine keeper, non the less!

dankearl

02-27-2012, 08:05 PM

I think the comp is great and the colors superb.
It seems just a tad over sharp to me.
I can see the flash effect, especially on the bill. A minor critique of a what I am sure is
a tough bird to get.

Karl Egressy

02-27-2012, 08:21 PM

Great colours, pose, light and composition.

gail bisson

02-27-2012, 08:36 PM

I really like the composition. Beautiful HA and wing position and that tail...love it. The iridescence on the bird is well captured. Interesting that the large size of the flower doesn't overpower the bird at all.I wonder why?
Gail

Marina Scarr

02-27-2012, 09:43 PM

Lovely capture, Doug. Glad to see you got the entire tail in there. Couldn't have been easy. Lovely colors here. Could you share with the viewers what your BG is here please?

arash_hazeghi

02-27-2012, 10:22 PM

this is magical Doug, I'd be happy with that flower alone ;)

Doug Brown

02-27-2012, 10:45 PM

Was this the best catchlight to leave? Usually this lighting scheme will leave one a bit higher. Given the slight head turn upward though, I do realize that the main catchlight may have been right up against the edge of the eye.

Hi Greg. The catchlight you see was the main catchlight. Here's a 100% crop of the unprocessed file; you'll see that I cloned out the lower and smaller catchlight.

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<embed id="application/x-exifeverywhere" type="application/x-exifeverywhere" width="0" height="0">

Doug Brown

02-27-2012, 11:11 PM

Could you share with the viewers what your BG is here please?

Hi Marina. It's a preprinted BG that Greg Basco made, so I'm not sure whether it was painted in PS or an actual photo.

<embed id="application/x-exifeverywhere" type="application/x-exifeverywhere" width="0" height="0">

Greg Basco

02-28-2012, 01:17 AM

Hi, Doug. Ok, you did indeed choose the right catchlight to leave in. It just looks a little more prominent in the smaller, forum-sized jpeg so it seemed lower than usual for some reason.

Marina, the BG is a photo of OOF vegetation, I believe a clump of those same flowers now that I think about it. I'm not usually crazy about non-green backgrounds for tropical hummers but I'm happy that this one has worked out when used with certain flowers. I like to think Doug's image is a good example of it working well.

Cheers,
Greg

Kiran Poonacha

02-28-2012, 08:45 AM

Loved this Doug Bhai... great frame indeed.. such a colorful frame.

cheers Kiran.

Frank Schauf

02-28-2012, 11:24 AM

Perfect in every way …

Kaustubh Deshpande

02-28-2012, 01:56 PM

Doug, i liked the image design a lot. perfect wing position and HA. Greg has done a great BG...wouldn't have guessed...which means its successful :-)

Doug Brown

02-28-2012, 05:14 PM