Feeding

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Hello every one.

One more image of a Fiery-throated Hummer.
I have no printed BG's so used a natural one...! The dark parts on it is a type of moss. Sorry I can't include the species of the plant from where the bird is feeding, I am almost sure this is not native to Costa Rica and can't find it in any of my books...:o

Canon 30D
Canon 300 f/4@5,6
AV
ISO 1000
SS 1/250sec.
Tripod
No flash
2/3 EV
Metering mode: spot
Full Frame
Minor tweaks in LR and sharpening and resizing in PS. (It was hard trying to render the reds of the flower!)

As always, your comments/suggestions are welcome. :D

[Arthur Morris]

Nice wing position and feeding pose. Bird looks a bit dark esp. the face and the BKGR looks a bit light.

[Greg Basco]

Hola, Juan Carlos. Sweet composition. I agree with Arthur that the difference in brightness between background and subject is a bit of a problem for this one. I probably would have tried two things here -- first, underexposing the background a bit to darken it and then adding some fill-flash on the bird and flower and second, just taking the overall exposure way up with no flash for a high-key look in order to get enough brightness on the bird. That's what I'm usually thinking when I encounter a bright background, relatively darker subject like this. Great job though on the composition and capturing the moment.

I'm pretty sure the flower is Fuchsia boliviana, native to South America but as you know widely planted and loved by hummingbird here in Costa Rica. Definitely a Fuchsia in any case.

Ok, with this background I'm guessing you took it in the gardens behind La Georgina. Am I right?

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Hola, Juan Carlos. Sweet composition. I agree with Arthur that the difference in brightness between background and subject is a bit of a problem for this one. I probably would have tried two things here -- first, underexposing the background a bit to darken it and then adding some fill-flash on the bird and flower and second, just taking the overall exposure way up with no flash for a high-key look in order to get enough brightness on the bird. That's what I'm usually thinking when I encounter a bright background, relatively darker subject like this. Great job though on the composition and capturing the moment.

I'm pretty sure the flower is Fuchsia boliviana, native to South America but as you know widely planted and loved by hummingbird here in Costa Rica. Definitely a Fuchsia in any case.
Ok, with this background I'm guessing you took it in the gardens behind La Georgina. Am I right?


Cheers,
Greg Basco

Yes Greg, you and Arthur are so right about the bird being so dark. I knew there was something wrong going on in here but I was unable to tell what it was. I will have to think about this issue next time when in the field and try to make it better. Thank you so much for the plant identification. I shoot this one at Freddy Serrano's gardens.

Pura Vida!

[Greg Basco]

Ok, Juan Ca. No t-shirt for me for guessing the correct location:o

Cheers,
Greg

[Joerg Rockenberger]

I do agree with the previous comments re the bird being too dark. But I am wondering if there is something like a vertical panorama... if yes, this image would lend itself to it perfectly. JR

[Stu Bowie]

A different comp Juan, and it works for me. Lovely iridescence on the HB, and I would maybe darken the BG.

[James Salywoda]

Beautiful pose and shot I like your composition Juan alot.

[Peter Hawrylyshyn]

Juan
Nicely done. I like the flower and HB position against the soft bkgd
The reds are overexposed in the original. Greg has given you some good suggestions.
You can also easily improve the exposure using a Curves adjustment to the bkgd and the dodge tool on the HB in PS

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Thanks to all who advised and commented. And special thanks goes to Peter for taking the time to play with the image a bit. I like your repost very much Peter, way to go!