Hummingbird at feeder

[David N Smith]

I got this shot of a Hummingbird at our feeder and was wondering what I could do to make it better. In PP (LR3) I increased the recovery +40, fill light +13, brightness +50, contrast +25, clarity +35, Sharpening amount +88 radius +2.2 detail +63, noise reduction luminance 80 detail 76 color 38 and detail 50 & It has been cropped about 60%.
Exif data:
Camera: Canon XSi
Lens: 55-250 @ 250
Exposure: 1/800 @ f/5.6
ISO: 400
Shutter priority.



Thanks in advance for looking and for any advice.

Dave

[John Chardine]

Hi Dave- I think for what you have, you've done a good job in processing. The bird is sharp from stem to stern and you have a nice background. I would like to see more of the eye. What you have to work on is making hummingbird images without the feeder in the frame. You have to admit, a big piece of red plastic is pretty ugly and really takes the eye away from the subject. Hummers often hover away from the feeder before going in- try to make some images at that moment. You may also what to try some natural setups where you can get them coming to flowers.

[David N Smith]

Thanks John for your comments and I agree that the feeder is distracting and I probably should have cropped more of it out. I got some shots of the birds hovering but they were not as sharp. The hummers around here are very skittish for some reason. I think the eye would have looked better if I could have gotten some catch light in it but the light was coming from the other side and that was 12 ft off of the ground. I haven't found flowers where they feed but I am looking so hopefully another day I will get "the" shot I want.

Dave

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi Dave, good analysis by John - not much to add but I do like the basic image with the nice background. Don't know how your feeder is set up, but getting around to the right with the sun at your back will make for better lighting in this situation.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

David,

Thanks for posting and John hit the key concepts. Hummers make greart pictures and should be the center of attention as noted.
The crop is tight, more room to breath. Play with some flash too, keep em coming.