First Hummer of Spring

Gallery: AvianPosted April 2, 2011266 views19 comments

The only species we get on our property is the Rufous. My wife put out the feeder yesterday morning and had a female on it within minutes. There are currently two rather resplendent (If a bit rain sodden) males contesting it. I took this one yesterday evening. My apologies for the large crop, but my 1.4TC was in the car and I didn't want to take time to retrieve it. There were no other features in the image than the branch and the bird and any other crop just didn't look right. (I really need to provide a more interesting perch). Since the detail was sufficient for web presentation at this crop, I decided to go with it. Taken a couple of steps from my back porch in light rain.

1DMkIV, 500mm f4, Black Widow on Gitzo legs, f4, 1/400, iso 1000, Av mode, no compensation, Color temperature changed in ACR to compensate for the bluish tinge from the gloomy day, a bit of brightening and minor adjustments in CS4. Noise reduction using Neat Image (it didn't need very much). Cropped from 17MP to 3.3MP.

I always appreciate your comments and criticisms.

Comments

19 comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on April 2, 2011 at 1:41 PM

Awesome image! Great detail, colours, and pose! I was wondering, though, what is that behind him by his neck? I looked in the larger version, and still couldn't figure out what it was, it is a bit distracting to me.

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Andrei Malashenko on April 2, 2011 at 1:46 PM

Fantastic photo! Love the dof,colors and sharpness. Really well done!

Registered on March 18, 2011, 13 Posts, 68 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on April 2, 2011 at 2:11 PM

...what is that behind him by his neck?

The hummer's left leg and foot - it is grooming the feathers.

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

Comment posted by Steve Balke on April 2, 2011 at 2:19 PM

I very much enjoy the color, detail around the head and "ear picking" pose, Dennis. I'm o.k. with the DOF effect on the bird: the bill and head area are nice and sharp. However, I find the OOF end of the perch a bit distracting: you could consider pruning it. The large crop is fine by me: I think it's the image that really matters and this one is certainly worth posting.

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

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on April 2, 2011 at 2:27 PM

Oh! Thanks Richard! Now that I know what it is it isn't very distracting anymore.

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Fabio Giarrizzo on April 2, 2011 at 2:35 PM

Excellent sharpness and detail on this- Nice pose and beautiful BG also- Thanks for sharing, Fabio

Registered on December 3, 2010, 90 Posts, 1614 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Marquart on April 2, 2011 at 3:41 PM

Nice one Dennis, I like the pose you captured, it adds interest to the photo and I like the background. A little more DOF would have been ideal IMO but I can see by your camera settings how low the lighting was and stopping down more probably wouldn't have been a good idea, and it has good sharpness and detail where it's important anyway. At 1/400th and a 500mm lense, I'm surprised there isn't any motion blur on the raised, scratching foot. Nice shot.

Registered on October 24, 2009, 126 Posts, 799 Comments

Comment posted by Joel DeYoung on April 2, 2011 at 6:52 PM

Wonderful details and color. Love the got an itch pose!

Registered on July 12, 2009, 92 Posts, 1074 Comments

Comment posted by S Govindarajan on April 2, 2011 at 7:39 PM

Nice action capture of the hummer, Dennis. Quite different from most of the traditional hummer images. I particularly like the minimalistic presentation with the head turn and the erect neck feathers showing very clearly. The image is very sharp particularly for such a short shutter speed. Would have liked a larger DOF, but you did very well with the lack of light. Looking fwd to seeing more.

Registered on April 19, 2008, 115 Posts, 1921 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on April 2, 2011 at 7:43 PM

A very cool pose here Dennis, I would have preferred a little more depth of field and this shot would have benefitted from fill flash I think.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Shellenberg on April 2, 2011 at 8:34 PM

Neat behavior shot, Dennis. I like the ruffled feathers.

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

Comment posted by Rick Cloran on April 2, 2011 at 9:28 PM

Love the pose and raised foot. The wetness shows well and is also a plus for me. The end of the branch / twig is catching my eye and making me think thtat croping to it might be better than leaving the gap.

Registered on April 6, 2004, 119 Posts, 1989 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on April 2, 2011 at 9:50 PM

Beautiful image with wonderful detail and charming pose, well done Dennis :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Cheryl Molennor on April 2, 2011 at 10:03 PM

Dennis! This is great. Love that pose and amazing feather detail around the neck

Registered on June 30, 2009, 300 Posts, 5051 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on April 3, 2011 at 8:45 AM

great pose, and I like the wet look, Dennis. comp works well for me.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Harbour on April 3, 2011 at 9:31 PM

Beautiful color and great detail in the head, eye, and gorget. Great background, and I like the scratching pose. Great image, as you said a more interesting perch would make it even better.

Registered on January 4, 2008, 113 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on April 5, 2011 at 6:25 PM

Wonderful close up, amazing little birds, nice job in getting this pose, way to go.

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

Comment posted by Jay Levin on April 6, 2011 at 6:24 PM

Love the details, pose, and colors in this. I agree that the blurred part of the perch is a distraction, but this is small potatoes compared to the whole image. Superb shot, Dennis.

Registered on April 24, 2009, 21 Posts, 184 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on April 26, 2011 at 9:33 PM

Man I wish I could catch one of these here Dennis, all I ever see are two species - ruby throated and black chinned.
I shot a sequence of perched shots this morning after the hummer bathed, it was fun to watch..
Really like the behavior here!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments