Hummer - heavy crop from D800

[Miguel Palaviccini]

I'm used to seeing photos of hummers in flight, usually in very dynamic poses. They don't rest much, but when they do they are just as photogenic, IMO.

I originally didn't even think about keeping this one (it was such a heavy crop from the original), but thought twice and am glad I did. At 16% of the original (6 MP image from a 36 MP photo), I'm quite pleased. I won't be printing it 20x30, but it still looks pretty good here at 900 px high.

Shooting info:
Nikon D800 | 500 f/4 VR + 1.4x
1/500" | f/8 | ISO 800

[Tony Whitehead]

Those big files stand an amazing amount of cropping, Miguel - not too long ago 6MP were all the pixels we had on a sensor! Great complementary colours in plumage and background and nice head angle with catchlight in the eye. May be an option to darken down the perch a little and may be an option to try darkening down the BG a little.

[MohsenVahedipour]

Nice IQ regarding to this larg crop. Excellent pose & BG. TFS

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks for sharing,

Great background and good detail on the hummer considering the crop. Eye is pretty sharp. I would have tried toning down the perch as its a bit too bright on my monitor at least

As a prospective D800 buyer, would you care to post the original shot to see how small in the frame it was?

[Norm Dulak]

Hi Miguel.

You were right to keep this one. And as others have noted above, you've done an excellent job with the large crop. The pose, perch diagonal, eye contact and background are very good. I think, however, that it looks a little washed out and might be improved by increasing contrast. I applied Shadows and Highlights in PS CS6, using only the Highlights and Midtone Contrast sliders as one way to enhance contrast, with the result shown here. If it were mine, I'd also crop out the lower portion of the perch, which is significantly more out of focus.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Nice IQ for the huge crop, and I like the comp you chose and you have a very appealing BG. Too bad the perch is out of dof range but you would have needed to stop down alot to get it all in focus.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Miguel, love the 'lime green' iridescence on this fellow, and what a simple pose that works so well. I like the high placement, and agrtee, toning down the overall image wont harm.

[Karl Egressy]

Despite the heavy crop the details are good. I know D800 images can be cropped more than any other images of today. Nice shot, Miguel. Love the pose, eye contact and composition.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Thanks for sharing,

Great background and good detail on the hummer considering the crop. Eye is pretty sharp. I would have tried toning down the perch as its a bit too bright on my monitor at least

As a prospective D800 buyer, would you care to post the original shot to see how small in the frame it was?

Shane, see attached for the full sized crop (at 1200 px wide)

[Tony Whitehead]

As a prospective D800 buyer, would you care to post the original shot to see how small in the frame it was?

Here's some more info on D800 and examples of crops, Shane. http://www.tonywhitehead.com/wildlig...d-photography/

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks a million guys! This will really help my decision making process. Christmas is coming and I will upgrade by then ;)