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Thread: Scintillant Hummingbird

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Default Scintillant Hummingbird

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    This tiny hummer (3 inches) is endemic to Costa Rica and Western Panama. I think I've broken some composition rules here, but I liked the way that by including the whole leaf it reinforced just how tiny this guy is. Taken in Costa Rica in March (natural light, near a feeder). Applied surface blur filter to BG. I know that I didn't need the high SS for a perched bird, but I had been trying to capture these guys in flight when he decided to perch here.

    D7000 | 80-400 VR @ 400mm | ISO 2500 | 1/2500s @ F/7.1 | -0.3 EV | HH

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    Bill, it may not be the usual composition, but I like it. The leaf gives you a sense of the bird's small size and of it's environment. I also like the composition of the stem of the leaf coming out of the corner and the tip of the leaf in the other corner. In an ideal world (and it isn't) I would like to have seen the subject with his head turned to the right. Nice detail in the bird. Lovely image. TFS

  3. #3
    Steven Kersting
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    I really like this shot but I think I would have broken the rules a bit more.

    Here's an alternative treatment that works a bit better for me.

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    Steven's repost with the blurred BG, makes this pop. Well done.

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    Bill, I'm going against the grain but I like the original BG-it seems more natural and adds a little flair. I like the unique comp. maybe lighten the dark area at the top if you keep the orig. BG. Nice catch and I love that you kept the tip of the leaf in the frame!

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    DanWalters
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    Very nice color and composition. Really shows how small they are!

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    Bill
    My vote is for the your original post - colors (particularly the gorget) are wrong in the repost. Did you consider adding a bit of canvas on the RHS?

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    Count another who likes the original BG and has no problem with broken rules. I do, though, like the restrained blurring of the alternative.

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Thank you all for the feedback. I liked the degree of blur in the OP that left some hint of vegetation beyond, but I also like what Steven did on the repost. Either works for me, but I guess I'll keep the OP. Denise, I agree that the dark area needs to be lightened up -- it draws the eye away from the bird. Thanks for all the comments.

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    Bill I realy like this sort of thing. The environment and the sense of scale or size of this little bird.

    I like the original but like in the repost how the leaf tip ends in the bottom right hand corner with a bit more room.

  11. #11
    Steven Kersting
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Hawrylyshyn View Post
    Bill
    My vote is for the your original post - colors (particularly the gorget) are wrong in the repost. Did you consider adding a bit of canvas on the RHS?
    ?? I didn't touch the colors and they look and read the same on my machine.

    I do agree with a bit more room for the leaf LR regardless of BG.

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    Steven
    My apologies

    I usually use Mozilla as my browser. In it, your repost looked much less vibrant , and the orange gorget had a "dull, muddy" quality to it

    I re-attached using Explorer - surprised to see that the colors are very similar in each. I've never noticed or been aware of this difference before.

    I guess i'll have to start using Explorer to view BPN unless a "techie" tells me what i'm doing wrong with Mozilla

    As for the comparison, i find it interesting that you chose to go for the clean, soft BG. I've been there and done it myself. I recently had dinner with a British photographer who finds this look (often favored at BPN) sterile and unnatural because it doesn't show the bird in its native habitat. It's not his style, so he rarely posts at BPN. This is another reason why i found the OP more interesting
    Last edited by Peter Hawrylyshyn; 05-08-2011 at 09:10 AM.

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    Good image to think about and gain some lessons from. Listen to Denise -I think she basically nailed it. It's interesting how folks prefer the original generally. Blurred out bg's do make the subject pop but at the cost of realistic three dimensionality. The later will pull one into the shot and evoke a more emotional response. Otherwise you have a two dimensional look like an Audubon painting- which is ok--but not as powerful because the shot becomes a more document image and more about visual impact mostly. Your "gunner shots" and bird in blue sky are the same--generally of course. In fact not using the bg to assist in a comp seems almost silly or wasteful to me. It can do so much. That being said I suppose a little blurring would be ok here, but if it were mine I would rid the very powerful dark spot, tone down the brighter bg spots with a curves adjustment on a mask, give a little more canvas room to the leaf tip and play with crops to see what else I could get. A slight desaturation on the bg might be effective also. But bottom line an image with a powerful integrating bg is realistic to our subconscious and draws that part of us in, and becomes what we know as "Artisitc". For me this is waaay more better!

    This is a wonderful hummingbird shot and I think your vision on it is spot on. Most hummer shots look redundant to me these days--this one stands out for it makes the viewer feel the delicateness of the bird. That's a feeling--and a feeling makes the image powerful.

    Paul
    Last edited by paul leverington; 05-08-2011 at 10:58 AM.

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    I like the size comparison. At first I had a reaction like Tom's about the way the bird is facing. But I soon decided I liked it as-is. It has a humorous feel of the bird trying to feel more important by ignoring the big leaf.

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    Very nice image Bill...Love the comp and colors!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Hawrylyshyn View Post
    Steven
    My apologies

    I usually use Mozilla as my browser. In it, your repost looked much less vibrant , and the orange gorget had a "dull, muddy" quality to it

    I re-attached using Explorer - surprised to see that the colors are very similar in each. I've never noticed or been aware of this difference before.

    I guess i'll have to start using Explorer to view BPN unless a "techie" tells me what i'm doing wrong with Mozilla

    As for the comparison, i find it interesting that you chose to go for the clean, soft BG. I've been there and done it myself. I recently had dinner with a British photographer who finds this look (often favored at BPN) sterile and unnatural because it doesn't show the bird in its native habitat. It's not his style, so he rarely posts at BPN. This is another reason why i found the OP more interesting
    Peter, I also had some issues with dull colors using Firefox on BPN; and I also had some issues with Explorer telling me on occasion that BPN's server was not available when I knew it was. I've switched to Google Chrome and haven't had either of those issues since.

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    BPN Member Bill Dix's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Lillich View Post
    I like the size comparison. At first I had a reaction like Tom's about the way the bird is facing. But I soon decided I liked it as-is. It has a humorous feel of the bird trying to feel more important by ignoring the big leaf.
    Alan, having the bird facing out was one of the "rules" of composition that I was referring to; I've never liked having the subject looking toward the edge of the frame. But here, although I can't fully explain it, it feels to me that having the bird look out adds some weight to the left side of the image to counterbalance the leaf. In any event, I didn't have any choice in the matter.

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