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This is one of several shots I got of this little male Anna’s contortions from my deck. It was early in the morning and it had just come in for a long feeder drink. It landed nearby and furiously preened for several minutes. He sure did make me smile the whole time it was gyrating. I used my D500, Nikon 2-500 lens, Nikon 1.4 TC, monopod/gimbal head, 1/250th, f/8.0, ISO 400, 500mm, cropped to 1619 x 1148, AI Clear. Not only did I really like the pose, I also liked the explosive pine branch in the BG. What say you?
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I think this is pretty neat. the background certainly adds to the image of the hummer. Exposure and details looks good. I was a little bothered by the crop and the position of the hummer in the frame. Wondered what it might look like with more room on the left and just a tiny bit less on the right. Took it to PS and did a content aware crop to add canvas on the left and a tiny crop to the right. A very small vignette to accentuate the bird was also added. See what you think
Very nice color and detail. I like to slightly out of focus background. I do agree with Keith with respect to the crop and I would actually even move the bird a little further to the right to decenter it a little more. My feeling is most crops should have more room on the side of the frame that the bird is looking at. Of course there are people who break the rules and have some very nice images. It seems that most people on this site prefer the former however there are some very successful avian photographers who break the rules.
Wow! I like both versions. It’s nice to capture Hummingbirds perched making the use of a flash less necessary! I like the pose, the branch and the background very much! Nice sharpness as well!
Did somebody mention ‘rules’? Rules are made to be broken… LOL
Hello, Dave, first of all I love the birds pose and the ‘fanning’ quality of the background, somehow matching perfectly in sync with the Hummer. That said, I appreciate Keith’s work, since it makes the image more balanced. Either way works well though. Cheers, Hans
Beautiful detail in the bird. I think the pine branch is competing with the subject for attention. If mine, I would take out most of the right side including most of the brown. It still leaves you with the interesting “rays” of color but brings the attention more to the bird. With this shot I think a more traditional crop as others have mentioned - bird on the right third’s line - would be better. His feathers are gorgeous and the perch is nice too.
I’ve always liked the long needled pines as out of focus backgrounds, Dave, and this one is gorgeous. I also like the pose of the hummingbird. If you have more room on the left, I think I’d crop some off the right and add a bit on the left as the hummer is facing that way. It feels like it’s crowding the edge a bit in this composition. Though I know you wanted to keep the pine background, I think you’d still have plenty to convey the feel. The other thing I’d do is to use the spot healing brush on the patch in front of the eye that looks like a second eye. I’m sure it’s natural, but it’s very disconcerting.
