Rufous Hummingbird 3

[Gail Spitler]

With this image I have tried to apply PP from RAW all the way to jpeg, suitably sized for this forum. Mostly the PP involved cloning a piece of spider web hanging from the bird's beak and sharpening while trying to control the noise. I actually haven't managed to size the image very well; it turned out a lot smaller than necessary.:confused:

This is more than a 50% crop of the original image.

All comments and suggestions will be much appreciated. It is amazing how much I am learning here.

Thanks for looking

Gail

Canon 40D with EF 100-400m at 380mm, f/6.3 @ 1/1000, ISO 500, EV with 0 compensation

[Gus Cobos]

Great capture and details on your hummer. The colors are rich and vibrant...:D

[William Malacarne]

Very well done Gail. I agree with Gus and would also add that I really like the wing position and the blur of them. Maybe a little more room to the front.

Bill

[Nonda Surratt]

Very nice Gail!

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great exposure control and details. The BG looks a bit noisy, which is easy to fix.

[Katie Rupp]

Just Beautiful, was this handheld?

[Gail Spitler]

Thanks for the kind remarks. Yes, it was handheld and I think I also used a 12mm ext. tube. I was inspired by Desmond Chan's image of a female Rufous when he said he just got close and pre-focused. These birds really are amazingly nonchalant about humans with cameras.
I'll do some more reading on noise reduction, and not introducing noise while sharpening.
Thanks again
Gail

[SeanKP]

This is fabulous Gail. Apart from the noise which you'll fix very easily, I have no nits to pick with this whatsoever. Great detail, smashing colours and a splendid subject!

[Desmond Chan]

Good job, Gail!

[snip] Yes, it was handheld and I think I also used a 12mm ext. tube. I was inspired by Desmond Chan's image of a female Rufous when he said he just got close and pre-focused. These birds really are amazingly nonchalant about humans with cameras.

Yep, it is really that easy and simple, isn't it? :D

[Alfred Forns]

Just the bg noise Gail !!! Nice job on this one !!! Good work with the extension tube ... make sure you really need it since it will reduce the amount of light and affect the AF speed !! I like it a lot !!!

[Lance Peters]

I like it a lot - big congrats.

lance

[Oscar Zangroniz]

What a beautiful capture you have here Gail. Colors and sharpness are awesome. A big Big Congrats on this one.
Regards,