Anna's Hummingbird (male)

[Diane Miller]

Here's another from the hummingbird shoot a few days ago. In this one, the rosemary was actually in the frame with the bird, as presented. As in the last post, the sprig in the LL was blown out by too close a juxtaposition to one of the flashes and has been recovered as much as is practical. Will work on that next time I set up. It's rare enough to get a good bird position, as they pull back from (or stop on approach to) the feeder at slightly different places, and they pause about a millisecond, so it's a shotgun approach. Can't shoot a burst, either, as the flashes won't recycle fast enough. (With battery packs on all flashes I can shoot a low-speed burst, but only have one and am using three flashes. This is a very basic setup and could be improved.)

Personally, I don't have an issue with shooting the flower separately and compositing it in, as this is awfully close to a studio setup, anyway, but I'm certainly happy if I can get a good one in one frame.

Canon 5D3, 600mm II, three flashes (one on a printed BG), ISO 200, 1/160, f/11. Basic LR processing. Cloned out a small piece of the feeder in the LL and a small part of the flower that was cut off by the frame. Cropped to 67% of original full frame.

Thanks for the wonderful comments on the last one! This is an ongoing project. (Isn't everything, though...)

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Diane, great forward wing position, and just love the colourful iridescence on the HB's head. Sharp where it counts, and I really like the pastel colours of the BG.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Beautiful bird, nicely shown. Nice hummer, thank you for sharing Dianne.

[Karl Egressy]

Beautiful image, it's a treat to look at especially this time of the year. Great work Diane. I should look at the previous one.

[gail bisson]

Lovely image but I prefer the last one by a landslide.
The more angled/ventral position is very nice but I don't like the way the rosemary fits into the picture.
Gail

[William Dickson]

Very nice. HA, POV, colours and BG lovely. Well done Diane and thanks for sharing

[Roy Priest]

I agree with all that's been said. What do you think about adding a little more contrast?

[Tiago Caravana]

I agree with Gail. I think you spoiled us with your last image, cause even do this is very nice!

[Diane Miller]

Thanks everyone! Could probably do with more contrast and removing a little red from the wings and tail. I think the natural color is more gray.

[Grace Scalzo]

You should have presented this one first! It's a fine image that anyone would be proud of , but that other one totally rules.

[Arthur Morris]

Another beauty. Rather than a bit more contrast (the highlights are already bright enough) I'd suggest simply pulling down the curve a bit from the middle....

[Diane Miller]

Yes, that's a technique I often use. As contrast in the various tonal ranges is related to the slope of the curve there, that increases contrast in the lighter areas without increasing whites. Or if the darks are on the weak side, I'll often just pull the LL corner of the curve to the right a little, giving a straight line "curve" that's steeper overall.

[Dumay de Boulle]

Cracking image Dianne!