Ruby-throated Hummingbird (f)

I was photographing a humming bird at the Fire Bush in my backyard. It flew into the shaded interior of the bush and landed. I captured this and other images until it had rested and flew off. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for vieiwng.

Nikon D500
Nikon 500mm F/5.6 VR AF-S ED PF, Handheld
1/3200 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV +2/3 ISO 11400 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 500mm (750mm 35mm Equivalent)
Post processed in Lightroom Classic. Photoshop CC 2021 and Neat Image for noise reduction
Cropped for composition and presentation

P.S. On second thought I think this may be a juvenile male, note the red feathered area on the neck.

What a gorgeous bird and what an amazingly beautiful pastel background! The bird looks as if it could stand a bit of additional sharpening. How large a crop? If you'd like, shoot me the raw file as I'd love to consider an alternate composition.

with love, artie

Joe, what a stupendous background. Speaking to me with the canvas for sure!

Perch is typical for a hummer, be it simple as it is. Nice pose. To me, the subject looks sharp, it just has a bunch of grain and I think it could benefit from some additional noise reduction. Did you have to lift exp on the subject much?

Thanks for sending the raw file Joe. It is luscious. There were lots of ways to go. I went upper left thirds and much wider. The OP had too much room at the top for me ... Converted in ACR, Topaz DeNoise on the whole image, did some work on the nub near the end of the perch near the wing, and then carefully selected the bird and ran Topaz Sharpen AI on Motion Blur. Last was to lighten the bird only. WDYT?

LMK if you would like me to Hightail you the master TIF file.

with love, artie

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Originally Posted by Arthur Morris

Thanks for sending the raw file Joe. It is luscious. There were lots of ways to go. I went upper left thirds and much wider. The OP had too much room at the top for me ... Converted in ACR, Topaz DeNoise on the whole image, did some work on the nub near the end of the perch near the wing, and then carefully selected the bird and ran Topaz Sharpen AI on Motion Blur. Last was to lighten the bird only. WDYT?

LMK if you would like me to Hightail you the master TIF file.

with love, artie

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Hey Artie, the master at work. The image looks wonderful/lovely. Thank you for taking the time and interest. I am amazed that at ISO 11400 it could look this good. Thanks again...

Please send the master TIFF file.

Hi Joe ... you went a brave route , looking at the Iso you have used to get the shot .

I do like the Hummers in general , a very interesting bird family ..... must be good to have them in your yard .

I do like the simplicity of the frame and the almost surrealistic BG is great ... maybe going a " tiny bit " :w3:t3 more into the " Velvia side of color " can look good as well .
I would agree with Brian about the visible noise , which is somehow sad .
The comp as posted is not my favorite , but a minor thing .

Would give it another shot with Neat Image ... just my take :w3

TFS Andreas

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andreas Liedmann

Hi Joe ... you went a brave route , looking at the Iso you have used to get the shot .

I do like the Hummers in general , a very interesting bird family ..... must be good to have them in your yard .

I do like the simplicity of the frame and the almost surrealistic BG is great ... maybe going a " tiny bit " :w3:t3 more into the " Velvia side of color " can look good as well .
I would agree with Brian about the visible noise , which is somehow sad .
The comp as posted is not my favorite , but a minor thing .

Would give it another shot with Neat Image ... just my take :w3

TFS Andreas

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Hi Andreas, not much choice to go with that ISO, the bird was in the shade in the middle of the bush. Artie asked for the raw file to have a go at the image. Not sure if you saw his processing and composition. If not take a look. Smiles... you and Brian say noise, I say grain. :wave: Steve always said he would rather have a sharp image with grain, than a soft image without. Thanks again Andreas...

Hey Joe ... yes we might call things sometimes differently , as we might see them differently . Maybe I can say " imperfections " .... :bg3:. You might have gotten away with slower SS to save some space for lower ISO , but this over once the shot is taken . And I do like that you try to get the best out of it , I do that myself too .

I have seen the RP from Artie .... but have nothing to say :w3 .

Cheers Andreas

I bet you wish those flowers were took up the whole background. Nice to see a perch the feet can fully grip.

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Originally Posted by Joseph Przybyla

Hey Artie, the master at work. The image looks wonderful/lovely. Thank you for taking the time and interest. I am amazed that at ISO 11400 it could look this good. Thanks again...

Please send the master TIFF file.

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Will do Joe. I never even looked at the ISO :) Topaz rocks.

with love, artie

Sweet BG on this hummer image Joe! I also like the pose. Agree about a round of NR