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Thread: Hummingbird -- something different

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    Default Hummingbird -- something different

    Hi, folks. Sorry I haven't posted here in quite a while, just busy busy. I've been lucky to have had lots of opportunities with hummingbirds here in Costa Rica and feel like I have plenty of nice multi-flash shots of hummingbirds pollinating flowers in my files. So, I'm looking to new challenges, and I've been starting to try some different techniques to produce an image or two for a book project I'm doing. Combining ambient light and flash to portray hummingbird movement is the idea I've hit upon. Here's an early example with which I'm quite happy.


    This is a male violet sabrewing. His tail feathes are pretty ratty but I actually thought it accentuated the look for this image. This is near a feeder setup but against a shaded background with natural backlight coming in.


    Name:  hummer-blur-BPN.jpg
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    Tech: Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-300 mm L zoom, handheld, 1/50, f5.6, ISO 800, one flash off-camera, Phottix radio transmitter/receiver


    Post: Cloned out a small corner of my feeder, deepened the blacks a bit and did selective noise reduction in Lightroom


    Cheers,
    Greg

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    Extremely interesting result :)
    The extened blur works a treat!

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    Great artistic image.Love complementary colors.

    Regards,
    Satish.

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    Greg, I really like this. The eye is nice & sharp and as you desired, the blurred wings really convey the hummingbird-type motion, and yet still have enough details to show feathers. I also like the blur of the bill. The brilliant purple and white contrast beautifully against the dark bkgd. For me, this conveys the hummingbird as beauty and art.

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    BPN Member jack williamson's Avatar
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    Great shot Greg, I really like the dark BG, the purple is brilliant and the mixture of blur and sharpness is excellent. I want to see more.

    Jack

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    Very creative, Greg! OOTB! I am assuming you used front curtain sync intentionally?

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    Very nice Greg. It is becoming more difficult to come up with new and interesting photos and you have one here. I think Nancy's comments are right on. I love the multiple wings where usually we just see a blur. I hope to see more.

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    Artistic comes to my mind when I view this image. Quite elegant in feel, and well seen.

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    Nice to see something so artistic, Greg, such a different take on a hummer portrait. Really captures the motion and vibrancy of a hummingbird in flight in a unique way.

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    Whoa this is amazing!! Love everything about it. At first I wasn't certain about the central comp, but the more I look at it the more it is alright for this way cool image.

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    The more I look at it the more I like this image, Greg. Amazing work!

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    Wow this is amazing, love how the eye and body are sharp while the rest blur nicely. The bird against black background work out nicely too.

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    this is excellent Greg. very nice effect that adds a dynamic element. I wonder if it is possible to do the same thing against a colored backdrop?
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    Lifetime Member Doug Brown's Avatar
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    And now for something completely different. The black BG really makes this Sabrewing pop, and the combination of ambient light and flash gives the bird a wonderful sense of motion. I agree that the ratty tail feathers actually add to the image. I like the centered composition, but I wonder why you decided to place the bird there instead of a more conventional placement?
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    Hi Greg, this is fantastic. I Love it!!!

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    Thanks, everyone, for your kind feedback. I'm glad you liked the idea and the result.

    Arash, I did do a few with colored backgrounds but the results just weren't as dramatic in my opinion. That doesn't mean I won't try more in the future but I thought the black background worked best for the image I wanted for my book.

    Dan B, I decided to leave it on first curtain because I was just as likely to catch the bird backing away from the feeder as I was to get him moving forward. So, there was really no right answer in terms of which curtain sync for this situation.

    Doug B, since there were no other elements in the frame (well, except varying portions of the feeder as I followed the bird around) I decided to go with a centered comp. I actually tried a few like this with flowers but the one static element combined with the other moving element didn't seem to work as well. You know I'm all about flowers for hummers but since this one was about motion, the simple "bird in the middle of the frame with plain background" treatment seemed to work out best.

    Cheers,
    Greg Basco

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