The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Wanted to play around with a lower ISO and Shutterspeed to see if I could get sharpness in the head and eyes but still show motion. Also desaturated the background a bit at the end as it was getting too yellow-green. The bee was an added bonus.
Specific Feedback
I have tried to darken down any hot spots in the background. Also just wandering if this works with so much motion in the wings.
Technical Details
100-400 with 2x TC @ 360mm, ISO 110, 1/60th sec, f9
Hi Claudia, the hummingbird works for me with good sharpness on the head. The rest of the wings and body show a pleasant painterly motion blur to my eyes. The BG also looks painterly to me as well and contributes well to the bird and image IMO. Looks like this was taken in harsh light given the blown bright areas on the green stem of the plant. I think these may be toned down with selective cloning, either full or partial. An intriguing image well executed.
I like how the Hummingbird is obviously going for the flowers. The BG is really nice for both the flower and the Hummer. Hopefully you can tone down the bright spots, as I like everything else.
It’s probably going to stab the bee. I’ve seen them do it. Crabby little birds for sure. Fun image for sure. I really like the scale that the hollyhocks provide. Interesting effect the slow SS gave - reminds me of rolling shutter artifacts. The stem is a bit of a distraction and wish the exposure had been lower, but the bird looks good.
A lovely composition and good points above. I like the BG. It does like it’s going to go after the bee.
A little more SS is always good for hummers. You don’t say how you processed – did you pull down Highlights in raw conversion? Balancing that with Shadows and Exposure can often mitigate full sun a little.
If it was a setup, a large diffusion screen can work wonders. Place it as close as possible to the subject (the flower in this case) and you will get a very nice mix of shading and fill light.
The combination of flower, hummingbird and bee make this for me, Claudia. The wings may be very blurry, but I like that, particularly with knowledge of the shutter speed you used. It shows just how good their stabilization system is-and we think our cameras and lenses have good stabilization these days. That head is rock solid through a full cycle (at least) of the hummingbird’s wings. As others mentioned, there are things that can be done to improve the image, but for me, the story sells this one.
Fabulous! To me, this is a dream photo because you have captured such a wonderful story of the bee and the bird. The blur of the wings made me think the bird was “in neutral” and waiting for the bee. It’s intriguing to think it may be in attack mode instead. In my opinion, I think you could crop this image/use a different aspect ratio, e.g. lose the top blossom to hone in on the story of the bee and the bird. The flower is beautiful but not the primary subject because of the bee.
Nice job on both reposts, Claudia. I think they both work in different ways. My personal preference is the looser composition, but I know plenty of people who will prefer the tighter.
Much better on the highlights! I find the crop (on the revised version) a little awkward, with the tip of the petal so close to the frame. This might be one where you can use a trick from portrait photographers, where in some cases the top of a head can be cropped off, and crop just a little into that top flower. Lovely image in any case!!
