Anna's Hummingbird

[Aidan Briggs]

This was taken at the end of this summer when I was out shooting a lot. There weren't many flowers left but I found these red salvias blooming in my neighborhood. I set up two other salvia plants about three feet behind the main one to give the image a layered feel.

This was in the shade so light levels were low, but if you catch the wings at the right moment you can mostly freeze them even with a pretty slow shutter speed. I usually like a little blur in the wings to show movement.

50D, 500 f/4
1/400 sec, f/4, ISO 800
Handheld

[Arthur Morris]

Love the soft tones, the slightly blurred wingtips, and the sharp face. The o-o-f background flowers are very sweet. The composition is unbalanced with way to much dead space on the left. My crop addressed that.

Yes, see you soon.

[Aidan Briggs]

Thanks Artie, agreed on the comp. Don't know how I missed that.

[Robert Kimbrell]

Beautiful Humming Bird shots this week, This one also, Excellent softness to the background. A nice touch of color of the flowers in the background, Artie's Crop Adds.

[Loi Nguyen]

Lovely colors, like a painting. Artie's crop is great. TFS. Loi

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Aiden, we normally see these images as a set up with multiple flashes, so well done on this fine capture. Sharp where it counts, and I do like the soft light, and pastel colours of the BG. Artie's comp takes this up a few notches.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Lovely image Aidan, nice color palette, exposure and detail. Thank you for sharing.

[Bill Dix]

Well thought out, with the oof flowers in the BG. Nice light and good pose. My first reaction was that I liked seeing the bird somewhat smaller in the frame than most of the hummer shots we see. I'll stick with that assessment and say that contrary to popular opinion I like the OP comp best, with the extra room. Handsome image either way.

[Steve Kaluski]

Very cool Aiden, RP just works!
Like your thinking on the set-up & planning, I also like the idea of not using a flash and the overall colour palette that it has created.

TFS
Steve

[David Salem]

Nice work and it is nice to see a hummer frame in natural light. The pose, details and the BG really look good. Well done

[Jim Crosswell]

Excellent image Aidan! I like the layered BG, flowers, blurred winds and composition in the repost.

[arash_hazeghi]

what a nice image Aidan love the pos, enviroment and the soft tones

TFS

[Diane Miller]

I didn't see this one till now -- very nice setting with a perfect BG and light! Excellent to catch one without flash. I need to get some plants to attract them next summer, but the deer eat everything here, including poison oak. I'd have to get potted plants and bring them in at night.