Anna's Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird (thanks to Alan Lillich for the ID). This was a grab & shoot, but I liked the details on the head and how the wing blur came out. Wanted to see how it would look with some stylized detail so processed with Topaz Clean - CrispStyle.

Beautiful detail in the head and eye. Wish for a little less blur in the wings and I might re-crop to try and get rid of most of the oof stuff in the LLC. Great for a grab shot , and a re-crop would make a very strong image.:5

Brendan, I agree w/ Joe. Beautiful detail in the head and I too wish for less blur on the wings but this is still a little cutie. Really great for a grab shot since these guys are so incredibly fast!:S3:

I agree with Joe's comments too. The detail in the head is awesome, and I like the colors. I wish the flower didn't merge with the hummingbird so much, but for a grab shot this is pretty darn good. :S3:

Wonderful details in the head and eye. Agree a little more detail in the wings would have been nice, but you did very considering their speed. Nice work!

Thanks for the comments guys. I agree regarding the LLC, but still not sure on the crop solution. Should I make into more of a head portrait?

I like the Hummingbird image, Topaz is one of my favourites, LLC already has been mentioned, a good capture..TFS

Brendan, I really like this image and while a crop might highlight the hummer, I like the flower adding a sense of environment. Don't know if this would help, but maybe a slight vignette to just darken the LLC.
Fantastic "grab" !!! :S3:

Thanks Paul and Steve

Brendan, nice detail and you know I love Topaz Clean! It works well here. Technical issues have already been discussed, so I will only add this comment about the filter. To really get a feel for the way Clean works, try clicking on the "reset all" button and adjusting one slider at a time to see what it does. Some of the control names are intuitive and others aren't, so you can learn a lot by starting at the top of the control panel and working your way down. I like to make big adjustments at first to see what the control is doing - big slide to the right and another to the left, then fine tuning to get just the amount I want. Big fun!

Beautiful details on the head and body of this little Hummingbird. Wow! Nice catch light on the eye. I tried a large vignette and liked how it toned down the llc.

Thanks Kerry, I do need to further explore the different possibilities with Topaz and other filters. (it's so easy to just click on a preset :t3)

Thanks Anita, would you mind posting that vignette? Interested in seeing how it looks.

I used the dark green as a rather wide vignette, brushed away any darkness on the bird's body. I also used curves to lighten up the LRC and added a little contrast.

Thanks Anitia, I think that does help to hightlight the bird and head area more.