The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
I went out this morning early to look for some captures of the hummer activity at, or near our deck feeder and I got this “guard” taking off from his outpost to run off a perceived foe hummer.
Specific Feedback
Cropping? Exposure? Anything?
Technical Details
Z9, 180-600 lens, Nikon 1.4 TC, monopod, 1/2500th, f 9.0, 1260mm, ISO 14400, cropped to 3656 x 2827
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Dave - Nice catch of this fellow! The head-on view and wing position is great. I’m afraid the eyes are hidden in the dull headfeathers.
play with this, and this is
I had a few minutes to this is what I came up with:
increased saturation on the head with red and yellow channels. Hey! there IS an eye in there!
light sharpening and NR
Maybe a little better ?
For hummers, we really need a very high SS, which often means a high ISO as well. A good NR program is essential. I’m usually around 3200 SS and an F-stop of 10 or so.
The Z9 has good eye-tracking, so be sure to have this set (not for these hummers, but for birds/animals in general)
Steve Perry has an excellent set-up for the Z8 and Z9 here :
A trick for hummers and feeders:
use a tripod and remote if possible
Tape off all but one hole on the feeder, so they must come into that one open hole. Position it at the side, parallel to you
Turn off the AF
Don’t zoom in close, so you have a wide field of view. Manually focus on the very edge of the feeder where they will be coming in. Move off the to the side about 12 inches. Don’t change the focus
Find a nice chair! Use the remote, NOT the view-finder. Just watch for them coming in close to that open hole and start firing away! The good “keeper” rate is very low, so it just takes time, practice and a LOT of patience!!
Good luck!
Hi Dave, interesting take off shot with the wings out. I like the bird being on the end of the perch like this. Your aperture and shutter speed look alright to me but I’d expect the bird’s body to be sharper. Wondering if the softness is due to the size of the crop or the high ISO. Interesting catch.
Hi Dave. I like Sandy’s quick edit. The major problem to me is that the focus appears to be on the tip of the perch and the forehead looks out of focus.
