Magnificent Hummingbird on a rainy day

[john jackson]

Magnificent Hummingbird by jj birder, on Flickr

Equipment: Canon 7D, 400 DO f4 (no flash, handheld)
Exposure: 1/500, f5.6
Processing: Aperture 3
Location: Paraiso del Quetzal, Costa Rica
Species: Magnificent Hummingbird Eugenes fulgens

[PRABIR BHATTACHARYYA]

Truly magnificent!

[Dave Leroy]

I second that. The pose, colors, and detail really show off the magnificence of the hummer. I don't mind the rain drops in bg as they add to those on mandible.

[Marina Scarr]

This is a stunning portrait, John. Your BG is gorgeous and really goes well with your HB. It's well exposed and has great details. The only thing that could have improved this photo would have been the perch not being in front of the bird, and that obvoiusly could not have been helped.

[Stan Cunningham]

beautiful photo, and all that IQ handheld, that lens lives up to it's reputation and obviously good technique on your part.

[john jackson]

Thank you all for your lovely comments. I expected a rougher ride!

My self critique is that I don't like how the tip of the bill loses focus (I doubt that could be helped with such a long bill pointed forward), there is something a little odd about the far back of the bird (no idea what it is or why but it looks weird to me; it's the same in the RAW file) and I would wish for more rain streaks. The branch I don't mind and I think it works as a lead line. On the whole, though, I am very pleased with this photo.

It was an amazing morning. Possibly the best fun I have ever had photographing birds. A torrential downpour stopped me from completing my planned birding but the diffuse light and rain were amazing for the shine of the hummers so I grabbed my camera and fired until my cards were full.

I should have pointed out in the original post that it is a full-height vertical crop of a landscape orientated image.

[Stan Cunningham]

John, can I ask where you were staying that offered such good shots at the hummers? I'm hoping to get to Costa Rica in the next year and don't have an itinerary as yet.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

John, excellent colors, details and BG. I especially like the blue near the throat. agree with Marina about the perch being distracting.

[john jackson]

John, can I ask where you were staying that offered such good shots at the hummers? I'm hoping to get to Costa Rica in the next year and don't have an itinerary as yet.

Hi Stan.

I took this picture at Paraiso del Quetzal (http://www.quetzalsparadise.com/indexi.php). I did not stay there, just popped by for a bit of birding (it is a reliable site for Resplendent Quetzal), so I cannot comment on the accomodation. I will consider it seriously as a place to stay if I go to Costa Rica again as the location was excellent. It is not far south of San Jose in the Cerro de la Muerte area. They have lots of feeders for the hummingbirds (I took this one in the vicinity but not at the feeders). Typical species there are Magnificent and Fiery-throated. No flash is allowed (if I recall correctly). Just down the road is the famous cafe La Georgina that also has lots of feeders and birds. Great for watching, but not an ideal set up for photography.

Many sites/lodges in Costa Rica are good for hummingbirds and there are lots of species. Others places I enjoyed for hummers were Bosque de la Paz (some feeders http://www.bosquedepaz.com/) and Arenal Observatory Lodge (mostly coming to flowers not feeders http://www.arenalobservatorylodge.com/index.php). The summit of Cerro de la Muerte had lots of Volcano Hummingbird. The amazing people at Bosque del Rio Tigre Lodge (http://www.osaadventures.com/) showed me White-tipped Sicklebill. What a species that is!

Hope that helps. Feel free to PM me.

John

[Brendan Dozier]

I agree, that is magnificent! Awesome color and IQ on this. Agree about the perch, but still a pretty stunning image.

[Randy Stout]

John:

Lovely bird, excellent feather detail.

I would consider burning in the perch a bit to lower its luminosity and reduce its visual impact. You would still have the leading line effect you mentioned, but not as distracting.

Cheers

Randy

[john jackson]

Thanks Kaustubh, Brendan and Randy.

Randy: Good point about the perch.