Black-bellied hummingbird at Hibiscus

[Greg Basco]

Hi, I thought I would share another hummingbird image (hopefully people aren't getting bored as there have been a number of nice ones posted recently). This is a species I'd wanted to photograph for a while, the black-bellied hummingbird hummingbird. I set up and baited (with sugar water) this native Hibiscus and designed the lighting to mimic a nice sunny day at the cloud forest edge, typical habitat for both the flower and the bird. The bird is tough to light but I was happy to get some good detail in the black feathers without blowing out other parts of the scene. BTW, this is how the flower is; it never fully opens as do many of the cultivated hibiscus varieties.

I am very happy with the composition but would be interested to read what others think. Oh, this was taken at a little restaurant near where I live in Costa Rica.



Tech info: Canon 1D Mark IV (I was working with Doug Brown this day so we used his new camera), 70-200 mm f4L IS zoom, 1.4x TC, f14, 1/200, ISO 250, three flashes on the bird, one flash on the background (which is a print of out of focus cloud forest vegetation)

Post-processing: full-frame, a bit of noise reduction on the BG, cloned out one extra catchlight in the eye, and desaturated the red in the flower a few points

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Peter Hawrylyshyn]

Greg
The composition, bkgd, exposure , details, wing position, DOF all look very good . To me this bkgd looks better and more natural than a monotone print. I think having more of the flower and branch on the right also add to the picture
You've done an excellent job of keeping the perspective between the HB and bkgd. This often gets overlooked when taking these types of photos. First taking a picture of the bkgd scene, then printing it, then positioning it behind the flower while keeping the proper size perspective with the HB is a daunting challenge.
I would have hoped to have the bill out of the flower and the HB a little lower, but that's a personal preference and often not achievable.
You must have some special deal with the restaurants that they'll let you setup your flashes onsite.
Very well done - thanks for sharing

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice ambiance, I like the comp, well done with the setup

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the composition Greg. I did not get to see the BBHB this year.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Very nice one Greg!

I will have to get one of those printed BG's since they can really make an image! (of course your composition here is great!)
Agree with you about this being a tough bird to get in a picture, especially when there's a flash set up near by. Nothing more to add other than this is another stunner!

[Greg Basco]

Hi and thanks to everyone for your comments. Peter, that's a good point about the perspective; couldn't agree more that it's a subtle thing but one that makes a big difference for these setups. BTW, I do have a special deal with this place :)

Cheers,
Greg Basco