The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Male Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte Anna)
Our local wetlands are seeing the return of the Anna’s Hummingbirds. I’m pretty sure they’re the same ones from last year as they’re staking out the same territory. So, I have named them Andy 1, Andy 2, and Andy 3 (can’t call a male Anna). And there’s one Anna in the bunch too. It was a cold morning so you can see the frost on the top of the plant.
Last year I was lucky to get them perched and maybe taking off, but this year with better gear, I am able to get lucky with a few flying/feeding images…
Specific Feedback
I think this is a good image with the slight blur on the wings giving a sense of motion. Does the cutoff leaves on the right and bottom bother you? Any other feedback appreciated.
Technical Details
Nikon Z8, Z 800mm PF Lens, 1/2500 sec @ f/6.3, ISO 5000
Critique Template
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This is really nice, David. First, I’m really glad to see someone manage a shot of one feeding on Oregon Grape which is a mainstay early season nectar plant (for some reason I’ve never done it either, though they must use ours). You got some nice light on the gorget and I always like some blur in hummingbird wings (actually my personal preference is for even a touch more than you have in this image, but I’ve found that blurred wings is very much a matter of taste). It looks like this lens is really nice for this kind of thing because the transition to the out of focus leaves is very mellow and they don’t distract at all. As for the cut-off leaves, anyone who knows this plant realizes that there is no way to avoid cutting off something!
Excellent David! Nice, sharp body on the hummer and the wing blur is great. Love seeing the frost on top of the flowers. Nice background and the cut off leaves are not a bother. Great pose and wing position too. Well done.
Very nice catch!! And a unique (to me) feeding source. All very attractive and no nits about the crop. I could wonder about some desat on the BG if it was easy enough to select and exclude the bird and most of the plant.
Our population suddenly increased a couple of weeks ago. Need to try to shoot some.
Thank you, @Dennis_Plank, @Allen_Sparks, and @Diane_Miller for the kind comments. I appreciate them. Diane I will look at reducing saturation on the background. Should be easy…
Oh what a floofy little guy. I like the intensity in the gorget and the light is exquisite. A lot of my hummy shots have a little wing blur and I don’t mind it as it is hard to get them totally frozen, plus it shows just how zippy they are. Don’t mind the cut off plant since the bird is so darn small you would have lost him with a much wider view. I especially love the little side patches of purpley red on the veery sides of his head. Am awaiting our little guys, but it won’t be for a couple months yet.
@Kris_Smith thank you for the nice comments. I was pretty surprised that they had arrived so early here too…I actually prefer some wing blur because it depicts movement. Thanks again.
Hi David: You should have these year around in Portland. We do in the Puget Sound area. In fact, one of the guys I have lunch with regularly said they have an active nest outside one of their windows. That surprised us a little, but my wife looked it up and February-March is the peak breeding season for Anna’s in this area, though they do continue to breed into July. Try leaving a feeder up in the winter and you might get them coming to it. We keep ours just outside a screened in porch and bring it in at night. If it’s really cold in the morning we turn on a heat lamp pointed at it from inside the porch.
