rainbird - anna's hummingbird

[pat lillich]

A very aggressive male has chased two of the hummers away from their feeders in the yard - and is constantly running between the two feeders trying to keep them claimed. This grape tendril is located sort of midway between them. Yesterday it was raining pretty steady, but Alan set up the sigmonster with extension tube inside the backdoor and slaved flashes outside, and we had lots of fun for several hours watching and taking pics. Of course we both got pretty soaked moving flashes around - but it was cool to see the raindrops on the hummingbird.

nikon d300, sigma 300-800 f5.6 with extension tubes, 1/250 sec at f/8, manual, 0 EV, iso 200, sb-900 plus 2 slaved flashes

cropped in LR, slightly crazy background muted with paintbrush in PS, selective sharpening in PS

[Dan Brown]

I like the pose, sharpness and bg Pat. The overall bird seems to be in harsh light, maybe too much flash? I would add canvas to the bottom and subtract it from the top if it were mine. The head turn, foot and wing are reallly nice!

[Julie Kenward]

What a lovely pose you managed to get! I agree with Dan that I wouldn't mind trading some up top for a little more room at the bottom. (Remember you always want to leave a little wiggle room on all sides of the frame for any matting you might to later.)

I can't decide if the body is so sharp because of the water drops on the irridescent feathers or if you've just sharpened a bit aggressively...so I'll leave that to you to decide if you want to pull back on that a bit. It does feel a little overdone to me on the yellow areas.

I bet this was just the most fun! I don't suppose you took a photo of your set up?

[Gus Hallgren]

Now that is one beautiful Hummingbird photo, only very minor nit for me is a little too much space on the top. To me, sharpness is right on, water drops on beak and little foot hanging on by ankle and pose is out of sight. You have a little backlight that lightens up the overall capture. If it was mine I would do as Julie suggested, give it more room & make a large print to hang front and center as you came in the front door.

You nailed it young lady . . . . way to go!

Gus

[Bill Dix]

Beautiful detail and background. I love the coy head-turn and the water drops.

[Maureen Allen]

Beautiful, Pat. The colors are amazing. He looks like he's up to some mischief.

[Dan Brown]

Hi Pat. I retract my harsh light comment from earlier! I was viewing on my laptop in bright lighting! I think this image is exposed nicely! Still want more room at the bottom though:p

[pat lillich]

thanks all! I am so bad at crops - I really appreciate your suggestions! there is more room below so I'll try removing a little above and adding back in a little below. His back is really shiny from this particular angle - one flash was on the leaves behind him like Gus said, one was slightly to his front left (our right) and the sb-900 on the camera pointed towards him. Julie, I did do a little sharpening on his back feathers - i'll not do that when i change the crop. Didn't think to take a picture of the setup! hey Gus - I just don't seem to have the skill to catch them in flight like you do - but raindrops made me happy.

[pat lillich]

Here is a try with more below, less above and without the sharpening on the back feathers....
is this better? (sorry - a few false starts uploading new version....)

[Julie Kenward]

I think so! Nice addition at the bottom, Pat.

[Alan Lillich]

I bet this was just the most fun! I don't suppose you took a photo of your set up?

Julie,

Sorry to be so slow with a photo of the setup. We didn't take any at the time, I had to wait for a low contrast opportunity. It is a really basic setup. This is shot from just inside the house, where we were shooting from before. The red flower just to the right of the post is on the grape tendril to show where the bird perched.

The two outside flashes are SB-26's with 1 gallon ziplock bags to keep them dry. The one on the left edge lit the bush in the background, we tied some a branch in place to put leaves behind the bird. Everything was manual, exposure and flashes. I think the outside ones were at 1/8 power, and the lens mounted SB-900 (+BB) was at 1/4 power. Lens to bird was about 16 feet. We just moved things around and adjusted the power until it looked right.

Even though we have resident birds, one for each feeder, and the grape tendril has been there for weeks, that day in the rain was the only time this guy has spent a lot of time on that perch. Usually he's in the avocado tree or a bush out of sight to the left.

Alan