This image was captured using a multiple flash setup, with 5 flashes plus one on camera, an artificial background, and a sugar water feeder. Canon Mark II 1N, 500mm IS lens, tripod and Wimberly head. Using a multiple flash hummingbird setup allows you to freeze the motion of these tiny birds so that you can capture all the detail and iridescense of their beautiful plumage. During post-processing, it is necessary to remove the additional eye highlights resulting from the 5 flashes.
The lighting on the bird is absolutely gorgeous. To be honest I'm not a fan of the BG at all though. It looks really washed out and unnatural to me. I'm not sure what in nature would yield this type of BG. Especially in a tropical forest where these guys hang out. It looks like he is about to land (on the feeder I assume). I think if you could have placed a flower (heliconia for example) in the frame and have a more natural BG this would be over the top. Its still got the wow factor of all high speed flash photography....but I think there is room for improvement.
Unbelivably beautiful Linda . Love the rich color and irredescence and I especially love the excellent detail and in particular the action of it's little feet. An outstanding image !!!
I love it and the background too. There are open areas around many of the lodges including Canopy Lodge (http://www.canopylodge.com)where this image was made, and there are flower beds there also. This, a distant bed with o-o-f purple flowers might have been the background. Photographing hummers at a feeder set-up with five flashes is not exactly a "natural situation." It is however, a **** of a lot of fun and the hummers do well both as stock and for editorial sales.
Adding some black to the whites in Selective Color might be used to darken the background a bit. Or, you might try selecting the background with the Magic Wand and darkening it by pulling the Lightness Slider in Hue Saturation to the left.
Lastly, the correct name is actually Violet-crowned Woodnymph as it was split from Violet-bellied Hummingbird not too long ago. (I was wrong--gasp!)
later and love, artie
Last edited by Arthur Morris; 12-31-2007 at 06:28 AM.
This is stunning Linda! That is one beautiful bird and the pose is superb. Not sure about the BG but I am sure about the bird...heck this would even make a nice tile for decoration somewhere.
One good looking bird in a killer pose !!!! I like it as presented since it appeals to me Maybe I'm used to seeing these as set up images Big Congrats !!!!
Wonderful capture Linda. Love the wing/tail position. Great colors. I am not loving the crop though. With all the dramatic angles of the subject, I think a more dynamic compostion could have been had with a more off center crop (vertical or horizontal). Nicely done.
Gorgeous bird and colors on him. I love Hummers.
As for the bg I must agree with Glenn. I normally would tend to have at least green bg elements with different tones of green. I think in such an artificial situation, which I am fine with, it could be possible. Just need so more time for the preparation :D
Szimi
Linda, congrats on all of your fantastic hummingbird images, I especially like the pose of this one. It looks like there is some noise on the hummingbird, especially in the purples. Could be a product of their structural color, at what ISO was the image taken? Thanks