Hummingbird 2

[Hazel Grant]

Was able to get a bit closer for this one. Some color enhancement with paintbrush, slight blur to background. slight crop. f8, iso 400, aperture priority, 10/800 sec. cloudy day.

[Randy Stout]

Hazel:

The wing blur at this shutter speed really gives a sense of how fast they flap.
I think your focus as on the feeder and not the bird, as the feeder is sharper than the bird.
I have taken lots of shots of hummers at feeders, and try to get them when they back away, so that the feeder is either not seen at all, or less dominant in the image.
Some noise throughout the image.
The colors look a bit too saturated on the birds flank and some of the leaves.

What camera are you using, as that helps with the critique.

Cheers

Randy

[Wheeler McDougal Jr.]

I agree with Randy. I have taken many Hummers at the feeder in my backyard and find that it is really difficult to keep the focus away from the feeder no mater how hard you try. I often will put the focus on manual and pre-focus where I think the bird will be. This works well sometimes, but if the bird moves to a different distance your screwed as the camera won't keep focus and I, for one, can not focus fast enough manually to stay with it. My best suggestion is to keep trying and develope your own style and techneque. That's not to say that you can't use others suggestions of course. Good luck!
Mac

[denise ippolito]

Hazel, Randy makes some good suggestions as does Wheeler. I also find that the feeder is over powering the little hummer. When a strong color such as the red of the feeder is introduced it is hard to keep your eye off of it. There is a significant amount of noise in the BG. Don't give up. Capturing a good image of these fast buggers will require a ton of tries!! Good luck and I can't wait to see your next one.

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Hazel, What camera. 1/800 sec not 10/800 sec? The exposure looks good but the image quality is extremely poor. I will get back to you once you let me know what camera you are using. :)

Best advice: as above, try to make your hummer images without the feeder in the photo.

[Hazel Grant]

Nikon D40x

I wondered about that 10/800, too, but when I went to file info, that's what it said, so that's what i put.

I see what you mean re the red feeder. Will keep trying. Thanks for input.

[Arthur Morris]

Strange on the file info; I guess that the programmer never learned to reduce fractions....