Purple-throated Mountain-gem, male

[Tom Palmer]

Costa Rica, handheld natural light, 450D, 70-200 f4 IS USM, f/4, 1/30, ISO 400
This is one of my favorite hummers, the female is easier to photograph the male moves a lot more.

Tom

[Doug Brown]

Like the pose and the iridescence Tom. A lower angle would be nice as would some additional sharpening. I would also remove the OOF stuff at the bottom of the frame. For better sharpness, try increasing your ISO for a faster shutter speed.

[Daniel Cadieux]

That is some beautiful hummingbird! The focus seems to be at the wingtips/tail, and with the shallow DOF this has rendered the face soft (BTW those wingtips and tail look quite sharp for handheld 1/30s.) I would also eliminate the darker spots at bottom.

[Arthur Morris]

This is a stunning bird and you did a good job of capturing the gorget and esp. the crown feathers. Were you using One-Shot or AI Servo AF???

[Tom Palmer]

I used One-Shot. I'm new at this and need to learn how to process the images.
Tom

[Arthur Morris]

I used One-Shot. I'm new at this and need to learn how to process the images.
Tom

Thanks. There is a huge and important lesson here that most folks overlook. When you are attempting to make a sharply focused image when hand-holding it is imperative to use AI Servo AF with Canon or C with Nikon. Though you think you are standing still, your body is actually swaying all the time. So from the time that you focused (probably and correctly on the bird's eye), you moved a bit changing the distance between the imaging sensor and the subject's eye. This the tail is sharp and the eye is un-focused.

Even better would be to use a tripod especially at such a slow shutter speed. Then you can confidently use One-Shot AF (or S for Nikon), recompose, and create a sharply focused image. The problem with using AI Servo or C in situations like this is that the AF systems have a big problem focusing accurately in low-light/low contrast...

Best to use a tripod and One-Shot (or C) in low light. I will be copying this thread to the Educational Resources Forum so that all can learn from it.

I first realized the problem on my Wild Britain cruise this past June when I was handholding the 400 DO with the 40D and using One-Shot AF. I was mystified as to why I had so many poorly focused images... Another important lesson the I learned in the aftermath is that if you need to use One-Shot (or C) that it is imperative to brace your elbow on your knee or something else like a railing if possible, but even then, there is usually enough movement to throw off he focus... And the lonver the effective focal length, the greater the problem.

I will add an image or two with additional comments to the copied thread. You can check it out by scrolling down here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...d=1#post131915

As for learning to optimize your images, I wrote the Digital Basics File for folks like you. You are advised to check it out on the home page.

[Tom Palmer]

Thanks for the info Arthur, I'll try that on my next session.

Tom

[Glenda Simmons]

A beautiful Hummingbird! I can certainly see why it would be one of your favorites.