Hummdinger

[Bruce Enns]

Hi all...well the hummingbirds are back in town, and they are very entertaining as usual. This male Rufous is one of two that has established a guardpost over his chosen feeders, and here he is signalling a fly-by trespasser (or perhaps a female) that he is the king, without going to the effort of an actual pursuit.

Canon 7D, 500 f/4 IS with 1.4x II, ISO 800, 1/100 sec, f/7.1, +2/3EV, tripod and gimbal. Shot at ~minimum focus distance, ~50% crop.

All comments and critiques are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for looking!

Cheers!
Bruce

[Ilija Dukovski]

Perfect detail and color on the gorget make it superb image for me.
Perch excellent too, and quite decent dof to get almost all of the beak
in focus. Unusual position and steep angle but in this case I think
it puts the gorget in the center of attention so it all works very well.

On my monitor the lichen looks bit too bright, wouldn't be too difficult
to darken it a bit.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Cool pose, I'm sure it impressed intruders and the girls. :) I also like the sharpness and BG and only wish for a less steep angle.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Big-time WOW effect here. Loved the DOF. Amazing details for 50% crop....7D rocks I guess.

[Deborah Hanson]

This is wonderful. We haven't had a great migration of hummers so far this year :( so really enjoy any of the hummingbird images posted.
The depth of focus doesn't really bother me in this image as I think this photo is all about the gorget - which is very nicely done. The position, color, and sharpness of the gorget is great.
Thanks for posting.
Deb

[Colin Knight]

Love the color and detail here! Thanks for sharing!

[Stephen Stephen]

Bruce very nice image with a beautiful gorget. I also like the moss on the branch tip as well.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Perfect DOF for this image. As others have stated, this is all about the gorget and it sure is well displayed here. The eyes are a bit softer than the gorget, but this is probably the first time ever that I don't mind the eyes not being the sharpest part of the photo!!

[Bruce Enns]

Hi again, Just doing a quick lunch time check-in from work...thanks very much everyone for your kind and complimentary remarks.:)

Ilya and Axel, the steep angle you see is an illusion, this was shot with my camera at the same level as the bird at about the MFD of the lens...it looks like a steep angle because he is looking up at quite an angle and 'flashing' the other bird.

Cheers!
Bruce

[Joe Senzatimore]

Stunning in so many ways.

[Dennis "Curly" Buchner]

Very nice Bruce

[Bruce Enns]

Thank-you Joe and Curly! Shot with 'your' 7D Curly!:D

[Peter Hawrylyshyn]

Bruce -
Wish we got these guys here in Ontario
Exposure, colors, background and details/sharpness are prefect
This photo is all about the gorget, so have to live without seeing more of the head/eyes
Very nicely done - thanks for sharing