After months of admiring the work posted here, I am finally posting one of my own images. This shot was taken on a trip to Costa Rica that I took with my friends and fellow photographers, Bob Gress and Judd Patterson, last year.
Camera: Canon EOS 7D Exposure: 1/250 sec, f/4.0, ISO 250 Lens: Canon 500mm f/4L IS Date: December 1, 2009 Taken: Cartago Province, Costa Rica
Lovely little fellow, with soft light, nice colors in bird and background, like the splayed tail feathers and drops on bill.
I might be tempted to tone down the brighter areas of the perch, and might even consider removing the upper cluster of twigs. Might consider a bit more sharpening around he face and eye. The white patch on the throat isn't showing a lot of detail, and you might be able to bring out a bid more by running either the multiply or linear burn mode on a selection of that area.
Thanks for the welcome and for your suggestions, Randy!
I've definitely considered working on some of those points, especially getting rid of the distracting twigs on the left. At the same time, I shy away from too many modifications and can't help but think of the time that I could be spending in the field getting a better shot, rather than working in Photoshop!
My goal is to get it as good as possible in the camera, but there are absolutely times when you need post processing help. I would concentrate my post processing time on the images with the greatest potential. Following BPN can really open your eyes about the options of working on various problem areas.
Dave -
A great 1st post. You also did well finding the HB - especially a male. Although the head angle isn't "perfect", it does show the gorget nicely.
Randy has made some good suggestions. I also would concur about the twigs on the left , they don't add anything to the image. They could either be masked/cloned out or also be removed with a tighter crop on the left.
Overall - nicely done, a definite keeper
Peter
Beautiful individual - lovely colours, and I love the tail spread. Awesome BG!! I agree with the others about twig removal and taming of some whites, but to me the biggest issue is the HA - almost always best to have it at least parallel to the sensor, and even better a degree or two towards us.
Looking forward to more, and don't be shy to comment on other's images too!:)
Dave -
There's are a lot of comments about head angle(HA) at BPN, and yes if possible, what Daniel suggests is preferable
BUT given this is a rarer HB usually only found in the wild at the highest elevations in CR and that during a wing stretch/tail flare the HB will often twist its neck - there will be times when the "perfect" HA is impossible and beyond your control
Hopefully the HA in an image would never stop you from posting an otherwise excellent image at BPN
Hope to see more
Peter
Last edited by Peter Hawrylyshyn; 09-07-2010 at 07:44 AM.
Volcano Hummingbird
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