Anna's Hummingbird

[Luis Villablanca]

I took this one last week near Shoreline Lake. The hummers are quite friendly this time of the year.
They like to stand on some perches and always come back for more shots.


Canon 7D + 500L + 1.4x TC (handheld)
ISO 800, f/5.6 @ 1/1250s

Thanks for looking,
--
Luis

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice Luis, I saw these guys last weekend, was able to take one good shot!
Great job BTW, love the details and everything, it looks a bit bright on my screen, toning down the BG will make the bird pop a bit more.

should go shooting one of these days

Arash

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I like the eye contact, BG and sharpness. I would increase contrast and maybe remove the little vertical branch at the bottom. Makes you wonder how he stays balanced with only one leg and this pose.

[Fabs Forns]

This is very neat, love the pose, definition and colors. I'm OK both with BG colors and contrast, but that is just my personal preference. Big congrats!

[Daniel Cadieux]

I'm OK with BG and contrast too. I do wish the perch wouldn't fall so much of DOF range though. Interesting one-legged pose!

[Luis Villablanca]

Thanks all. I appreciate the feedback. I think the main issue is the iridescence of the feathers. They
basically reflect too much light, tending to clip the channels in some areas.
I've tried different combinations of brightness/contrast/saturation/clarity in LR but I could not get a much better result.

I did however try the latest version of Aperture (3.0) and I think it makes a difference.
I'm considering switching to Aperture for the 7D files since it gives a more accurate rendition of the colors and the noise pattern is much much better compared to LR and DPP.
I include a new version straight from Aperture, without PP.

Oh, regarding the pose, I hummer is standing on both legs. It's just that the perch is just too short
and its left leg is just hidden concealed by some of the feathers.

[Jim Fenton]

While I like the concept, however, the too shallow DOF in my opinion detracts a lot. In an image such as this where you have such excellent subject isolation from the background, my brain wants the entire subject and the perch in the plane of focus.

I would definitely remove the little vertical branch coming from the base of the perch and might due some contrast work on the bird to separate it even mores o from the background.

[Luis Villablanca]

While I like the concept, however, the too shallow DOF in my opinion detracts a lot. In an image such as this where you have such excellent subject isolation from the background, my brain wants the entire subject and the perch in the plane of focus.

I would definitely remove the little vertical branch coming from the base of the perch and might due some contrast work on the bird to separate it even mores o from the background.

Thanks Jim. I agree about the DOF. I should have used a smaller aperture, but the light levels were low and I did not want to lower the shutter speed since I was shooting handheld. Next time I'll bring the tripod and see if it helps bringing down the shutter speed and increasing the DOF.

I followed your suggestions (and Axel's) and created a new version with more contrast on the bird and without the short branch.



--
Luis

[Christian Dionne]

Great shot Luis!
Your perch is better than mine...