Velvet-Purple Coronet

Gorgeous image, Sandy. The color and iridescence are stunning. Great pose and a nice perch.

Hi Sandy. Very impressive little Hummer, what colors. I like the wing position, sort of says I am free and happy! Might add a bit of canvas on the right side as the wing is a bit tight to the frame edge. Might try another round of USM on the eye area and reduce the sharpening on the vertical part of the plant on the left. Feeder setup Sandy? Is such a small f stop the usual technique for hummers coming to a perch, assuming this is semi-controlled. Thanks Sandy. Hope I don't sound negative about your photo, it's a sweet image!!! (Want to make that clear).

Gary, these guys can come into any area of the flowers or perch. an F22 is commonly used with multi-flashes that provide bright light, to have the best chance of good focus.
Thanks for the suggestions - always appreciated.

Sandy

That is one stunning bird Sandy!

Sandy,

Amazing colors in the flower and bird. It is outstanding.

Rick

Sandy, although I am not at all into this type of photography it is very interesting to see the results. You state that an artificial backdrop was used. Is that usually how this is done? What was the natural BG like? Just curious to learn. Viewing the larger version, the plant appears sharper than the bird. For me this makes me look more at the plant than the bird. I might run a second round of sharpening on the bird and reduce the sharpening ont the plant to try and shift the emphasis to the bird. Just a suggestion.

Sandy,
I love the rich colors of the bird and the pose. As others said, the hummingbird seems to me a bit softer than the leaf. Overall a beautiful capture.

I like it very much as is. No nits from me.

Hi Sandy. I sorry, but I have to agree with Ron on this one, but have to admit I am also not really into using a large flash set-up for birds and often don't like the look it gives (to me, it gives a false iridescent look). Fill flash is different to me and doesn't give that same look and am fine with it when properly used. I also think the plant seems to be sharper than the bird in this one. but with all of that, I have still enjoyed most of your hummer shots from the trip you made.

Beautiful image Sandy. I did this type of hummingbird photography with the multi-flash setup twenty years ago in the film days and it was always a thrill for me and my favorite type of photography. The jewel-like colors of this bird are stunning.

Sandy: Great bird with a nice perch. The flash lighting looks fine. As noted, there is something off with the bird / leaves focus. The leaves are much sharper than the bird. At f/22 I'm not sure how that happens since the exposure on this is all from the flash (probably around 1/10000 flash duration), so I don't think it is movement from the hummer. Noise reduction? Certainly worth looking into as this is an otherwise very nice image.

This would have worked for the Rainbow Challenge. Wonderfull.

Dan

Great pose, and a gorgeous bird, Sandy. It looks like the focus was on the leaves and the bird is just a trifle soft. Nice job on the multi-flash.

Very cool exotic shot, Sandy.
Mauro

I like everything about this image. The only nit is it seems just a tiny bit soft.

These little jewels were so beautiful, probably my favorite of all the hummingbirds we photogrpahed, but I never got them with high speed flash. I'm glad you did.
A Beauty Sandy

Ken Archer

Lovely colors. The bird is richly hued. Great perch and background. I would try some sharpening in the eye area.

Sandy,

This bird sure has beautiful colors. I like the pose of the hummingbird, the eye contact and the profile of the bill. It does look like the plant is sharper than the bird so I would reduce sharpening on the plant and increase the sharpening on the bird some.

Don't forget that these guys are never completely still! When their wings are beating so fast, even when they are perched, there is body movement. Let me try different sharpening techniques and i'll see what improvements I can make, and re-post. Thanks for all the good ideas!
Sandy