Ruby Throated Hummer

Gallery: AvianPosted September 1, 2017184 views7 comments

The immature ruby throated hummingbirds were coming in like crazy at the feeders this evening. I used 3 flashes mounted on tripods about 3 feet from the feeder and one off camera flash with a fresnel lens that was used to trigger the slaves. All flashes were set to 1/16th power. My exposure was set at 1/80 sec with an ISO=640. I blurred the background slightly as the spray painted foam core was too blotchy. I still have a ways to go for perfection but felt that this image is worth critiquing. Thank you..................Jim

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on September 1, 2017 at 9:55 PM

Jim: Looks like a pretty good effort. The lighting is OK, but a bit on the flat side. Try to place the flashes to create light and shadows as you would see with a sunlit hummer. You have 3 catch lights in the eye. Since there is only one sun for our planet, you need to clone out 2 of them. Background works OK but has parts that are not blurred (look around the red flowers for example).

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on September 1, 2017 at 10:26 PM

Thank you Keith. I'll play around with the flashes and the BG tomorrow.....................Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on September 1, 2017 at 11:34 PM

I'll leave the critique to an expert, as I haven't had experience with doing this type of shot. I am impressed with the good detail in the delicate wings and the overall composition is nice.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on September 2, 2017 at 4:11 PM

Your setup gave you excellent dof, Jim, and I like what it did to the Hummingbird's wings. While the flowers are really cool, I think they overpower the hummer in the composition, so you might want to see if you can find something more delicate.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on September 3, 2017 at 10:26 PM

I think it is a good effort! I like how the birds body shows through the wing, not sure how you did that! Agree regarding the eye catch lights. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Don Young on September 5, 2017 at 4:37 PM

Jim, I'm going to have to sit in the Peanut Gallery with Allen. I'm not very handy with Photoshop and have less than a little experience with flash. So, to me this looks like a very good image.

Registered on April 23, 2015, 56 Posts, 224 Comments

Comment posted by Lucy Aron on March 3, 2018 at 5:07 PM

I like this unusual comp, i.e. making the blossoms the apparent main subject and the hummer almost an afterthought but integral to the image.

Registered on February 25, 2011, 189 Posts, 1160 Comments