Green-crowned brilliant

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

This is another image taken on our recent trip to Costa Rica. It was such an incredible experience photographing the hummingbirds and there were so many different species in that area. A real joy and privelege.

Nikon D#
Nikon 500 mm F4
ISO 400
1/100, F 16
manual

All comments are appreciated !! Thanks

[stuart wanuck]

lovely lovely what more can you say?

[Doug Brown]

Like the wings-forward pose. Very sharp. I might desat the reds a little. Looks like you two had fun on your trip!

[subhrashis]

An awesome bird and flawless technique to render it well!
I like the eye contact and the almost transparent wings..
One point, the almost shadowless flash lighting, while lighting the bird well, has left no shadows on the topmost flowers, leaving them rather flat.. like watercolor.. could the flash angles have been changed to introduce a little more drama (shadows) there, as well as covering the bird well?

[Joe Senzatimore]

Stunning image. You froze the wings in an outstanding manor. Great techs. Reds seem a bit bright but may just be my monitor. Love this one.

[Austin Thomas]

You have mastered that technique Judy. Excellent.
I agree that a little less saturation would strengthen even further.

tfs

Austin

[arash_hazeghi]

Very beautiful Judy!!! Congrats

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Very nice setup, sharpness and composition. I agree regarding oversaturation, would tone down the whites, get more details in the blacks and leave only one catchlight.

[Aidan Briggs]

I agree 100% with Axel's critique. Lovely set-up. Is the BG real?

[Myer Bornstein]

Judy
Congratulations
on an outstanding image

[Juan Aragonés]

Hey Judy, I see that your travel to Casta Rica has been really productive. I love everything on theis one... but the reds that looks a bit oversaturated to me.
BG is b¡very nice and the sharpness and pose of the hummer are killer:)

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Very nice one Judy!
I have been enjoying you images from your recent trip to my loved country! I know that some suggest desat the reds in this one, but to me these reds are very similar to the real ones. I also love the wing position and the sharpness achieved.

[John Blumenkamp]

Fantastic Judy... really love the wing position.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Many thanks to all for your encouraging comments and thanks Juan Carlos for your comments. Having been a painter before taking up photography seriously I felt that colors were of major importance in my paintings and the colors I saw in this flower were what I posted and I very much appreciate your comments Juan that back up what I saw.

[Matt Lerer]

Hey Judy,

Amazing shot and BG! I was wondering about the camera data for the shot...1/100 at f 16? That isn't the correct info is it?

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Judy,

Greetings. I think the reds (once sRGB is assigned) look great. Perhaps, this is a case of viewing with non-color managed browsers of an image without the color profile attached. If you attach the color profile, those using color managed browsers can see the beautiful colors you intended.

Beautiful shot... I wondered about the 1/100th, as well. 1/1000th?

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Humberto Ramos]

Great shot, with beautiful colours...
Did you use any kind of trigger, or multi flash's?
The speed is 1/100, but the bird is frozen...

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Hey Matt, Nichael and Iberto. Good morning !!!

The reason for the 1/100 and the F 16 is because five strobes were used in lighting the hummingbirds. These were used simultaneously which helped top freeze the action. It was a most interesting and exciting experience and a first time for me.

Thanks for commenting and have a great day
judylynn

[Peter Hawrylyshyn]

Judy -
Exquisite flower , great wing position and nice composition

The red's and whites measure 253-255, so probably are a bit hot. An easy way to check this at your setup is to have a colorchecker card - position it beside the flower or HB feeder, then determine the f-stop when you start to see over-exposure of the whites. Then just make sure you control your f-stops accordingly

There are some dust bunnies and multiple catchlights in the eye which could easily be corrected

Bkgd's in the multi-flash HB setups are always a challenge. Some prefer multi-tone prints, others prefer blurred natural scenes, ... I suspect this was a predominantly monotone BKGD. Although i think the green looks very natural, the darkened areas along the right side are likely the result of shadowing/flash positioning. Did you use one or two flashes on the BKGd?

Where was the picture taken?

Nicely done - thanks for sharing

[amir ben dov]

what a superb photo
superb, love the hummingbird decision to choose the right flower :)

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Hi Peter

Many thanks for your comments and to answer your question this image was taken at a place about an hour from La Selva in Costa Rica. What a beautiful place and such awesome opportunities to photograph. We had considerable rain but this did not stop us. With using strobes that catchlight can be a problem and I appreciate it you mentioning it.

Thanks agin
judylynn

[Greg Basco]

Peter, just wanted to mention that that is one of my backgrounds. If I remember correctly it has some darker shaded areas.

Judy, great pose you caught on this one too. I'm not sure which I like better; this or the image you posted the other day but both are winners for sure. I'm so glad you had such a good time!

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Thanks Greg it is one of the shaded green BG's I like that particular one as it appears a little more interesting and not quite as flat. All I am sure have there place though. It was a great day !!!

[denise ippolito]

Judy, Everything has already been said. Nice pose and excellent details -looking forward to more.

[Matt Lerer]

Hey Matt, Nichael and Iberto. Good morning !!!

The reason for the 1/100 and the F 16 is because five strobes were used in lighting the hummingbirds. These were used simultaneously which helped top freeze the action. It was a most interesting and exciting experience and a first time for me.

Thanks for commenting and have a great day
judylynn

Oh man...I need more strobes. Absolutely brilliant!

[Harshad Barve]

Nice pose and excellent details
TFS

[Don Lacy]

Hi Judy, Wonderful image full all the reasons mention above.

[Malcolm Benn]

Beautiful image Judy, I really like the colours of the bird and the forward wing position