Charming Hummingbird

[Michelle C. Battista]

It has been awhile since I have last posted, and I'm very excited to be posting again. I have been in Costa Rica for awhile, and wish I could still be there, but it's back to being a mom. I took this picture while I was at Wilson's Botanical gardens in Las Cruces. It is one of the three Biological stations in Costa Rica. It's a very beautiful place. I really like taking pictures of hummingbirds, so I thought I would start with this one. I know there are some problems with the picture. Like the back ground. The eye could be a little brighter. I also really need to have a crash course to learn photoshop CS4. But I am really happy to show some of the pictures that I was able to get. I look forward to hearing all C and C, and what you have to say. Thank you for taking the time to look.

D3
200-400 VR lens w/ 1.4 converter
Manual Mode, no flash, S-250, f stop 5.6, ISO 400
Used a tripod

[Lance Peters]

Hi Michelle - Nice camera Lens combo - beautiful hummer - sounds like yo had a fantastic trip - cant wait to se more shots.

Looks a tad soft on my screen - with the D3 you can easily use 800 ISO really clean at 800 - this would have given you a faster shutter speed which may have helped with the softness, Ideally you want a minimum of 1 over the focal length IE: 500MM = 1/500th.
Made a couple of quick changes....

1. Sharpened and sharpened the eye
2. Cropped p as presented too much negative space on the Right hand side.

Any Better??

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Michelle you took the best camera possible on the trip .... sure can use the clean ISO there !!!

Love the re post Just mighty fine !!!

[Katie Rupp]

Beautiful Hummer, Michelle, and I agree that a little sharpening enhanced your image. Looking forward to more.

[Gus Cobos]

Hi Michelle,
I like the composition in your original, your bird is placed just right in frame...I like Mr. Peters' repost, putting this over the top...congrats on your capture...looking forward to your next one...:cool:

[David Thomasson]

Very nice. I like the wide crop and would consider keeping that with one modification: trimming some off top and bottom. For me, much of the charm of this shot is this tiny little guy way out on the thin tip of a long branch. Narrowing the crop emphasizes that aspect. I also brightened and sharpened the eye a little and softened color transitions in the background (clone tool).

[Michelle C. Battista]

Lance, Alfred, Katie, Gus, and David,

Thank you for all of your comments. I do like the sharping of him, and the transition in the back is great. I also like the crop both ways, and if I had to pick I like the way David comments on that thin branch. I'm still trying to get the rule of thirds down. I would really like to know how you did the sharping. I have Photoshop CS4, and I'm just really starting to understand the program. I do take the pictures in a raw format. Make a few changes, then put them into jpg form. Is that were you are doing the sharping? I can't wait to post some more. Hopefully you all will not get tired of seeing them, but I think it's a great way for me to learn. Again thank you for all the comments.

Michelle

[David Thomasson]

Lance, Alfred, Katie, Gus, and David,

Thank you for all of your comments. I do like the sharping of him, and the transition in the back is great. I also like the crop both ways, and if I had to pick I like the way David comments on that thin branch. I'm still trying to get the rule of thirds down.

Don't worry too much about rules. (A little known secret: There are no rules! Shhhh... ;)) The "rule" of thirds is a useful guide to help you learn to see how some images can benefit from that particular composition. But those who become enthralled by rules tend to overlook other possible ways of cropping that often serve better than the "thirds" arrangement. In my suggested crop, I probably got the bird somewhere near the left one-third of the frame, but I really wasn't trying to locate it according to that rule. I just moved the frame around until the balance felt right.

There's another "rule" that says a subject should be looking into the frame rather than out of it. Following this rule, you should crop so the hummer is right of center looking toward the middle of the frame. But since (in reality) there are no rules, I was free to use my eyes and my sense of what works, so I kept the bird left of center looking out of the frame, as you did. And I think that works just fine for this shot.

I would really like to know how you did the sharping. I have Photoshop CS4, and I'm just really starting to understand the program. I do take the pictures in a raw format. Make a few changes, then put them into jpg form. Is that were you are doing the sharping?

I only had the posted jpeg to work with, so that's what I sharpened. With this small image, I duplicated the image layer and used unsharp mask set with radius 0.2 px, amount 500, threshold 0. Then I put a black mask on that layer and painted with white on just the few places I wanted to sharpen -- around the eye, along edges between bird and background.

If you search on Google for "unsharp mask," you can find lots of articles and tutorials that explain what those settings mean.

[Michelle C. Battista]

David.

Thanks for telling me about the rules. It can be so confusing. One person says one thing someone says a another thing, and before you know it, it feels like a tug of war in your head. I think that keeping it in prospective, and going with what feels right about the picture is a great concept. Thanks again about the great info, and I cant wait to use unsharp mask, and hopefully be able to apply it. I've got lots of pictures and I really think it's going to help me with the way I want then to be viewed.

Michelle