Anna's Hummingbird

Gallery: AvianPosted February 28, 2010147 views15 comments

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

Place: Water Ranch, Gilbert, AZ, USA
Date: February 25, 2010
Equipment: Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S 300/2.8, TC20E (2x), G1325, RRS BH-55, Sidekick
Exposure: ISO 1000, Aperture priority matrix metered 1/80th at f/8
Raw, PS CS3 on Mac G4, 55% of frame

I finally decided to push the ISO a bit more than usual and I'm surprised with how well this worked at ISO 1000. Early morning light, no flash. In-camera high ISO noise reduction turned on; no NR applied in post processing.

I considered cropping from the bottom slightly to remove the small green leaves, but I didn't want to toss out even more pixels.

As always: honest critiques requested; all comments appreciated. LARGER image provided for critical peeping.

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by mark cillo on February 28, 2010 at 11:41 AM

Beautiful detail and light! Excellent work

Registered on July 27, 2008, 143 Posts, 1483 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on February 28, 2010 at 12:20 PM

Looks good, Rich. The noise reduction worked well and the detail in the feathers is well preserved: I can even see detail in the blacks. One nit might be that the top edge of the head seems a bit soft to me. Could be just DOF....or maybe he moved his head in that 1/80th of a second.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on February 28, 2010 at 12:44 PM

One nit might be that the top edge of the head seems a bit soft to me. Could be just DOF....or maybe he moved his head in that 1/80th of a second.

I think the DOF is ok here, although if I'd had more light I would have gone to f/11 for a few frames. Note that the bottom of the gorget (the colored feathers on the throat) looks a bit funky as well, so I'm guessing the hummingbird was beginning to vocalize as I shot this and the blur is from movement.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on February 28, 2010 at 12:45 PM

Very nice shot of this little beauty. What was the pink BG? It matches the birds coloration well but it looks a little unnatural.

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on February 28, 2010 at 1:14 PM

What was the pink BG? It matches the birds coloration well but it looks a little unnatural.

I wondered that myself! This is completely natural: early morning light about 15 minutes after sunrise (see the reflection in the eye in the large version); probably completely out of focus crushed granite.

Here's a screen grab of a folder showing the NEF thumbnails of the series of image I took of this bird. This posted image is #464 (top left with the purple label). The first two were taken at ISO 1000; the rest are at ISO 800 I think. I will process the green label images as time permits but probably not the gray labels.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Moore on February 28, 2010 at 5:10 PM

It is nice to see the constructive critique here in this forum. You folks point out things that I would never see and in a bit of humor --in spite of all its flaws I still like it!!!

Super photo!

Dan

Registered on February 11, 2010, 143 Posts, 1248 Comments

Comment posted by Luke Ormand on February 28, 2010 at 5:47 PM

Rich,

Glad to see the ISO didn't hurt this image one bit - very nice and it held up well to a larger crop. The pink BG is great and is the result of getting up nice and early, well done.

Registered on February 4, 2009, 1093 Posts, 7035 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on February 28, 2010 at 6:22 PM

Rich,

The wonderful color in the background sets this hummer off like a jewel. Wonder detail in the larger version despite the higher ISO, I love this shot and the light.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on February 28, 2010 at 9:26 PM

Looks really nice for the hight ISO Rich. The BG looks very natural to me. Early and late light can create all sorts of colors in my experience. Great detail on the bird and I like the crop you chose.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by KC Choo on March 1, 2010 at 12:01 AM

That certainly looks like motion blur. Nice one, Richard! I have seen this BG colour early in the mornings in the desert.

Registered on November 15, 2004, 519 Posts, 8278 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on March 1, 2010 at 1:48 AM

Way Cool! Great detail and background!

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on March 1, 2010 at 5:42 AM

Great shot Richard - love the detail and iridescence. Looking forward to one of those images where the bird is slightly turned towards you.

cheers
Rob

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on March 2, 2010 at 10:18 AM

Very nice detail for ISO 1000. I was reading on your blog about the background color and I happen to like this background as posted. Sometimes the background color is really hard to figure out where it came from. One time I could not figure out where I got this aqua blue background and had to go back to that spot at that time of day and realized it was a reflection from the top of a information display booth. Anyway, well done hummer image.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on March 2, 2010 at 11:32 AM

Very nice light on this hummer, Richard. Great feather detail, especially for ISO 1000 and nice eye contact.

Registered on February 6, 2008, 168 Posts, 3118 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Dudley on March 3, 2010 at 6:16 PM

Rich, Love the complementary colors in bird and background and the open beak. Wonderful light here too.

Registered on March 30, 2007, 437 Posts, 10915 Comments